Before I Die
by KitKat Roar
Summary: Sequel to As I Am. Angela and Edward define their love against the back drop of dangers that drive a wedge between the human and vampire world. As prey turns to predator and the Volturi realize that the first law no longer has meaning to the world, can the love between Angela and Edward survive? Leah realizes that her future is to be a warrior that she was always meant to be.
1. Unfortold

This was not something I was supposed to be thinking about... this was definitely a stupid thing to obsess over. It had changed me and it branded my mind and as the images of the three men who had been standing like sentinels from across the street harassed my concentration; watching something, watching us, watching _me_...

I wish I was naive like before; silly, innocent and blind to the world's dangers but _he_ had awoken in me a relentless nagging after the passion and love. Paranoia; when you are exposed to the supernatural and impossible, other things begin to pop on your radar as your outlook is irreversibly broadened.

It wasn't a usual shrewdness to my surroundings, this I had no doubt about; being around the supernatural had given me an abnormal awareness to the finer details of my world; like a gift in spotting out the irregular hidden in the norm.

It was a stupid thing to obsess over... maybe... but I was hooked. My world would never be normal.

"Angie...?"

My father knew that I hated that nickname but at times-times when I was far away-he would call me with it and pull me back to our shared reality. "Not Angie..." I said absently, picking at my food with my fork.

"You haven't eaten anything...?" he laughed nervously. I wonder what he thought was bothering me in that instance as I felt his apprehension increase. He was good at listening to confessions but not good at giving his own; feelings were not his strong point.

"Aunt May's lasagne is still being digested..." I laughed back; a shaky sound that he probably thought was a reflection of his own nerves. He smiled, more at ease now that I wasn't frowning at my plate of food and at least trying to warm up to the expensive looking restaurant. "What is the name of this place...?"

"Saint Moritz..." he went back to his food, smiling more "Nice and quiet, eh? How you like things..."

I thought about my vampire boyfriend; quaint and simple didn't come to my mind when I wondered what kind of restaurant he would prefer if he was to endure icky food. Edward Anthony would want the best; a hundred pounds for every minute he would have to hurl afterwards...

"It's good, eh?" he raised his fork, indicating the food. I realised I was smiling goofily at my plate.

"It's... Swiss food" I smiled "Cheesy"

"Cheesy!" he laughed, placing his fork back down and giving himself a minute to enjoy my accidental joke. "Your brothers thought you wouldn't enjoy it..."  
"Now why would they think that?"  
"They don't give toys with the meals here..." he winked.

I could ask him about it now; my brothers... my half brothers. My mother... her lover, Fernando. I could ask him if he knew anything about my mother's escape from Spain. I could ask him if I was his daughter...

"Gosh, Angela... would you stop with that!" he leaned back, patting his stomach. "All this sulking... goodness! Do you miss him so much?"  
"Him...?"  
"Edward" he sighed, a tiny eye roll accompanying his exasperation "Believe it or not... I was in love once"

There was a God...

"With Angelica..." I leaned forward eating finally. I was ravenous; I needed to know... because I had no closure and something else. I had no revenge. "With Mom"  
"Yes" he smiled.

"How did you two meet?"  
"In New York... on a train" his smile faltered, and he shook his head. He took a long drink of his water and by the time he put the glass down, he seemed a little sad. I wanted to let it go...

"You bumped into each other?" I pressed.

"Something like that" he smiled sadly.

"Who is Fernando?" I blurted.

His face paled, his eyes bulged and lips merged into an imperfect line. "Where do you know that name from?" his voice whipped and a fear dripped into my mind, cooled the food in my belly; a fear of disapproval from one's parent, a fear of being disciplined-it was natural and yet strange with my age. I felt like the twins, when they were caught being naughty...

"I know it, that's all that matters" my heart was thundering. The fork in my hand quivered slightly. I looked at it in confusion and put it down, before realising my hand had developed a slight shake. I quickly hid it under my bum, sitting on it firmly. I thought it would shake even then, a silly image of my whole form waddling and vibrating on my chair popping up from the back of my mind. I may have laughed, I would have told Edward later on over the phone...

But I had no humour in me.

"He was..." he gulped, closing his eyes. He opened them again and I cringed back, they were red and moist. "I met your mother on a train but it was not formally. Truthfully, I only saw her for the first time on that train. She sat opposite me with man. She called him Fernando. I never saw him again..."

"And Xavi!" I demanded, so sure he was lying. He shook his head in confusion. "Xavi?!" I hissed "I heard the robbers say the name too!"

"The robbers?" was he bemused or was it a ploy? Did he not know? Could he not know the woman he had been married to? Was it possible to love someone so fully and wholly and _not _know them?

"They killed her" my voice shook and eyes stung "The same ones that broke into our house a few months ago... it was them. They said it"

"Angela...?" he looked sick.

"I'm sorry" I leaned back in my seat, pushing the food away. "I thought you would know... I thought you could have lied to keep me safe..."

"She was scared" he whispered. "She was on that train all the time and he...Fernando wasn't with her anymore and one day I pointed it out to her? Such a coincident that we would be sitting opposite each other... each time? She told me he had abandoned her, she told me she lived on the trains... she told me she was alone. I took her to a shelter..."

He drifted and shook his head "I knew there was more to it but I never asked. She fell pregnant and I never asked. Sometimes when you love deeply, Angela honey... you never question. I was alone too, I was lost too and we found each other..."

He smiled and I could see his love for her in his eyes, his love for me there too. "And look what we brought out of each other?" he pointed at me "Beautiful children. A true family that neither one of us could ever have had!"

"I'm sorry..." I realised I was crying.

"I'm sorry too" he wiped his mouth with the napkin. "Are you ready to go?"

Xx~xx~xX

I appreciated the outside of the Saint Moritz just as much as it's interior. There was so much I had failed to be grateful of, to enjoy and have silly reflections over in my obsession of all things wild, weird and dangerous.

The most satisfying satisfaction was the lovely fondue. Who knew such a thing could fill one up with that level of contentment...

Dad was shaking some old friends hand enthusiastically; still high on the emotion overdose. He pointed back at me, the hugest smile on his face. He waved me over to them and I sighed; I was in limited moods for meeting new people.

It was a little more crowded on the street, tourists like me self weaving in and out. There was always that look that they had and I wondered if I carried it too. That wide eyed gaze on everything; a new place, a different atmosphere and the excitement of the unknown... but could I ever be a regular tourist after witnessing the true unknown; could I ever be more awestruck than having a vampire go _down on me..._

"Angela..." Dad began and I tried to still my blushing, scolding myself for such a depraved mind. "This is..."

There was a sudden bout of movement; some small colliding of people behind Dad that caused him to lurch forward the instant that he had clasped my hand willing me to meet his old acquaintances and in the innocence of it all, a sharp but resounding bang was heard. I didn't move, stupidly wondering if my phone had made that bang, as it had vibrated simultaneously with everything.

People were screaming, scattering and I no longer held my father's hand.

He was lying on the pavement, the smile lingered on his face and his eyes wide and dulling, staring up in love to the night sky. Around him, black pooled. It took me a moment to register that it seeped from his front, that his white shirt was stained red, that that was not wine, that it was blood and that he had been shot.

Xx~xx~xX

Aunt May was crying.

The house was full, people weaving in and out; some in suits, others were regular folk and most were police. They were speaking loudly in the other rooms, questions, theories and accusations. "A man of God shot in the streets of London"

I could see the headlines so clearly, I could almost hear the newsreporter.

Whenever they came into the room that we were huddled in, they would whisper. They would murmur and send their words floating delicately to us; "What had happened?" and "What did you see dear Angela?"

I couldn't answer them. They were the _police_, they were _agents_... they were not fit to handle this.

"Angela...?" he looked up at me from where he was huddled at my side, his small arm going round my stomach and squeezing as tightly as he could. I had cried in the ambulance but those tears were all I could offer to misery;, because now I was filled with rage. I wondered why the twins hadn't cried-they didn't know what I knew. Or maybe they couldn't understand what was happening, comprehend what it meant when someone said "Your father is dead".

"We are going to be okay" I told him. He didn't smile and he didn't believe me, resuming his cuddling in silence and with a stronger grip. My phone vibrated again; Esme, Carlisle, Alice and Rosalie's missed calls filled my screen and I couldn't hold out any longer. They obviously knew...

"Alice" I looked at the screen. "Stay here okay" I told the boys, rising. I answered it while walking out the room to the next as quickly as I could. I was afraid it would cut before I answered but I had to be away from the boys "Alice Cullen"  
"You're alive" her pretty voice whispered in relief.

"Was I supposed to be..."I began but the words floated away and in their place, the smeared images of that night came. "It was I that was _supposed_ to be dead" I realised. "I was supposed to be shot"

"Angela?" it was Rosalie now.

"I am okay. The boys are okay..." my voice was hollow, tears stung my eyes and guilt so overwhelming and strong that I felt it would crush me right through the earth and straight to hell-it sat on me nastily. He would be alive, I would be dead and the twins would not be orphaned.

"I should be dead"  
"Angela..."Rosalie said firmly "Edward is on his way... he didn't wait long after Alice had the vision"

"He only called once" I was on autopilot, stupidly angry at Edward's impulsiveness (although justifiable).

"It didn't help that it took you so long to pick up our calls..." Rosalie laughed sadly "He was gone after Esme tried calling. Angela... I am so sorry about your father, he was a good man"  
"It should have been..."  
"He saved you" Rosalie said firmly "He saved you as any parent would, my dear. Whether he knew it or not and that said... it should not have been you"  
"Or him" the rage in my voice shocked me. I looked back at the door and saw Aunt May standing tentatively by it, her little fist raised mid knock near the door frame.

"Dear...?" she breathed, walking in slowly.

"Rose, I'll have to speak to you later" I said "I'll get Edward from the airport..."  
"Sea express my love" Rosalie said quickly "He'll find you"

The phone went dead and Aunt May gave me a suspicious look.

"You've never looked more like her than now" she said slowly. She closed the door and went over to the bed, smoothing the bed spread. I realised I was in his room-Dad's, and nothing had been moved. My heart panged and the prickling began again-the tears I had sworn had been shed enough in that ambulance were threatening to return.

It seemed grief had no parameters; rage be damned, vengeance be forgotten... he was dead. Staring lovingly at the pretty night sky with the obvious relief that his final confession had been told. We needn't had discussed it but I could feel it in my gut-I was not his.

He was not my father.

Fernando had abandoned Angelica... could it mean I was not Fernando's child either? What did it matter... and yet it mattered entirely. Such a non-topic, a non-issue and yet it now intensified my grief to know that I had lost the man I called father, and that I had never had a father. I would never know...

"Her" my voice shook. "Angelica"  
"The mystery of that woman..." Aunt May patted the spot beside her on the bed. "Was always you"

She never spoke of my mother save to tell the twins and I that it was because of her that we were as good looking as we were... I never believed her. I don't think the twins did either.

"Me" I said.

"Your father is a careful man"  
"Was..."  
"Is..." she insisted, squeezing my hand "Even in heaven... I bet he walks carefully still"  
"He is with her"  
"He is not with her" Aunt may said gently "Any person with as many secrets as Angelica had... well... those secrets would not be able to exist in a place like heaven"

I remained silent, trying to tug my hand free from hers but she held on determinedly, pulling it over her lap and clasping it with her other hand. "I love you... all of you, and I am prepared to look after you"

"We'll be fine" I said sharply.

"It wasn't even a robbery gone wrong..." Aunt May shook her head "He was shot from across the street. I may be old, I may be a nag but one thing I am not is an idiot"

"I didn't say you were"  
"But you are being an idiot right now" she raised her eyebrow. "Your phone conversation was interesting. Now, why would you think that it should be you who should have died in the up class streets of London?"

"It doesn't matter"  
"No, tell me" she smiled shrewdly "And I'll tell you something about Angelica"

"I saw three men standing across from us before we entered the restaurant. I thought I recognised one as the robber... the robber that had..." I had begun the story in a rush and then I couldn't finish. The man's face flashed over my eyes, rage and misery-horrible things to live in ones heart.

"Cleverer than Angelica" she smiled. "Maybe you get that from your father... your _real _one"

I looked at her closely. She liked that I was not shocked by her revelation, she liked that I knew; sweet Aunt May was always too perceptive and entirely straight to the point.

"Your father is a careful man" she said slowly, sadness seeping into her voice "I was immediately suspicious when he said he was going to marry a woman that had never been mentioned. Of course, it should have made sense when I met her and she was pregnant... but you see, it didn't. Your father is a careful man... that would be too easy a mistake, getting Angelica pregnant"

"He is a good man" the tears did fall then, two hot ones tumbling down my cheeks. Their trail was immediately replaced by another pair and then another... I was sobbing without wanting too, crying with everything I had and miserable.

"He is" she sighed, releasing my hand and wrapping her small arm as best as she could around my shoulders. She kissed the side of my head and nudged me with hers "A good man and your mother... she was a brave woman. I'd like to believe she loved my brother and she gave him as much as she could but she came from danger and that danger followed her. It will always follow her, as long as her blood is in you and the twins"

Xx~xx~xX

We were cuddled in my bed. The three days had gone in a haze, and the concept that we were orphans had not been handled yet.

Orphaned. In danger. Afraid. Alone... with each other.

"Angela?"

I wasn't shocked to hear his voice. I knew he would find me. The sound of his voice pushed against the walls I had built; it pushed and pulled, heaved and wrecked at my resolve to be strong. My heart seemed to know that there was no need for me to be this strong alone when he could do it perfectly for me.

I didn't want to start crying again; I was supposed to be so angered and past misery, I was supposed to be a knight fuelled by revenge. I wanted to be cold and hard, like a vampire...

But I felt incredibly human and much less than that.

"Are you awake?" he asked. I remained silent and he sighed, loud enough so I could hear and with enough effort that I knew he knew; my father was gone. "You are awake" he told me. I barely felt his weight on the edge of the bed, by my feet. He touched me through the blankets, moving his hand upwards until he reached the rim of the covers. I saw his white fingers hook there; it would have been a scary sight if I were some _other _girl who didn't have a vampire boyfriend.

The covers came down slightly, exposing my head but I didn't move. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to fake being asleep.

"I should have been..."

I rose swiftly, so close to his face and scowled "Should have been there?" I asked him.

He blinked in confusion, his eyes were dark but they had a far away glow and when he moved his head slightly to the window they shone like polished black pebbles. It was scary how they did that... but it was fascinating too.

"Whether I had met you or not" I said firmly "My family was always going to be in danger. You can't... always be..."

"I can!" he said impassioned, leaning forward. In his vehemence and determination, he somehow seemed helpless and afraid. It was incongruous but there it was... we could have been separated by death a few nights ago and where I was in the midst of trauma... he was in his own trauma of having me taken from me. "I will...!"  
"It's done, Edward" I touched his face and he closed his eyes. "It was them and it is done"

"Not the same men surely...?"  
"Not the same but it doesnt't matter" I breathed. "They had similar purpose"

"Will you stay here?" he asked looking at the sleeping boys.

"Forks" I said. "Aunt May will come with us"  
"Why Forks...?" he pressed "Maybe you need to disappear..." he said and then his striking face twisted slightly "Maybe I should kill them all..."

"Maybe because Forks is the safest place?" I tried to lead his face to mine but he was lost in something strange, terrible and seductive; violence. It was diminutive, hidden to the best of his capabilities but I could see it dancing in his eyes, begging to be shout from his pressed lips.

"Forks with its vampires and wolves?" he said sardonically.

"Precisely..." I said.

"I'll protect you and the boys" he kissed my forehead. "I won't allow for you to know this... to feel... pain, ever again"

"Irrational"  
"Dead serious"

Were we would have laughed before, we stared at each there in silence for what seemed forever and when I blinked and ruined the enchantment it felt too short a time. I had thoughts I had not sifted through, decisions that were pending and he was here and I couldn't go through it; my rage and vengeance, and I was grateful when he didn't ask on it.

He sat on the chair, watching me sleep and protecting my brothers from the world outside.

A glowing beautiful angel in a black hoody, motionless in a worn armchair.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Welcome to Before I Die, the sequel to As I Am.**


	2. Altered

**ALTERED**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**X**

**EDWARD CULLEN**

**X**

**x**

There were too many hidden doors in the world; doors that were locked and served secret purpose, _dangerous _purposes.

Misery and happiness had been a part of it but now, I knew that the misery I had felt in my eternity, was far inferior to what I had felt as a human. As a human, I had been sheltered and exposed; two doors in one world.

Kept from reality and coddled in my mother's dream of what sort of man she would bring up in the dangerous world of Chicago. I had almost lost that memory, the emotions of that time; they surfaced so suddenly in the wake of the twins confusion and sadness; murky things below the surface of the clear waters of my preternatural mind.

They sat at my sides, how they always sat when in the presence of an adult they trusted. Their little arms went around me from either side, their heads nudged against my chest and their thoughts twirled in blue rays and cool wisps; the confused grief of a child.

Their thoughts were delicate and pretty in their misery; a child's mind is probably the safest, its self defence is most long-lasting. Angela and her Aunt were talking a little way off, discussing me furiously and displaying an interesting form of _womanly _combat on the best action to be taken with the boys.

Angela cast her gaze at me and pressed her lips. She was five seconds from telling her Aunt that they would _all _be in no safer place than with me. I would have told her not to be so upset; I was grateful for Aunt May's verve; it showed she cared, truly and fully.

"I just think pulling them away from home would be counter-productive" Angela insisted. She stood with her head held high and back straight while her aunt adopted a similar posture opposite her.

"So if they were to stay with me..." her Aunt said carefully "You wouldn't?"

"They are not staying in England" Angela said the words slowly, pressing her lips hard when she was done to keep from adding anything that would be callous.

"You are eighteen" Aunt May smiled at her but it was a pained smile, mildly bitter. She would have liked it if Angela wasn't eighteen, if Angela wasn't so stubborn, if Angela would indeed leave the twins with her, if her brother hadn't been so foolish as to declare Angela guardian of the children and more importantly... if Angela would let her keep them all safe.

They were all the family she had now and May didn't know how to put that across without releasing tears that she had successfully shut away.

"I am also their guardian" Angela sighed. She cast me one look, _She should come... How do I make her come with us? Could I ask... she offered but... now she is hesitant..._

I nodded my head carefully.

"Come with us" Angela touched May's folded arm and tugged her arm free from the defensive pose. Her Aunt looked to me, unsettled but curious on what sort of life had been lived in Forks by her brother.

"Family doesn't always have to be blood" she smiled weakly at Angela. "I suppose... staying somewhere where it all happened would be unwise"  
"You'll come?" Angela asked again.

"I will come"

Xx~xx~xX

X

X

**LEAH CLEARWATER**

**Xx~xx~xX**

Freedom is a funny thing.

_Wolves, vampires... _

The words had stopped tumbling over each other only recently, slowing to a back ground noise. It takes a great deal of strength to break a habit, it takes determination... it takes evolving but sometimes to evolve as a person you have to kill who you were before...

I looked back at the door, nervous. I wished I hadn't taken the job, I wished I hadn't caved in the warmth of Sue's motherly love ("Shall I lose two children Leah? Portland is so far...") and mostly... I wished I had kept my _guts._

Freedom would always be the most expensive commodity to mankind. To any _kind_... and I supposed I was getting there. Killing that weakling, murdering myself... in this secret battle to free who I was now.

_Wolves, vampires..._

Me. I had worked hard to get to this point, to be away from that; keep the magic, keep the dangerous fairytale... keep it all. The prospect of Freedom had given me a handle on who I was supposed to be.

The classroom was empty, walls lined with different art works the children had done through the last school term, the tables partially scrubbed free of paint and windows cleaned. It was all prepped for the new term, it was all organised for me; the head of the art department.

A lovely title, one I may have had difficulty achieving at Forks High probably; but I hadn't earned it yet and that too grated me. A lot grated me about being back but the truth of the matter was, leaving is not as easy as I thought it was.

It didn't help that I got a multitude of missed calls from Jacob Black ("I will sniff you out, Clearwater", his one voice message had said) and none from Angela Weber and an odd message from an unknown number that I suspected to be _Edward Cullen. _

The latter scared me more than the initial (I was fairly sure I could handle Jacob Black's misplaced affections, blame it on his hormones and my... loneliness that had led him on). 'Tell me you know what has happened to her?' the message had read.

I ignored it. I had been in a bar trying beer somewhere. It had been a quiet bar, one of my many adventure stops on my unnecessary errands out of Forks; Sue, Emily and Sam, Jacob Black and his staring eyes...

I did miss Forks High.

The teenagers on the Reservation had a special kind of rowdiness compared to the likes of Mike Newton. They really did look like hungry wolves baying for my blood; they seemed larger and more fearsome too.

Wolves, the word almost made me scowl.

The bell rang loud and I jumped; I didn't want to be here but I was here, and I would just have to deal.

They walked in oblivious to me.

Teenagers.

I was smiling, watching them all; the girls flipping their hair, giggling and being _free..._ the boys loud and all over the place, winking at the girls. They were the same age group as my old Forks class and if I had learned one thing with that lot, was conventional teaching methods did not garner respect.

A red apple appeared in front of me, held by the fingertips of a large hand. I followed the hand's muscular arm, to where the bicep disappeared underneath a black tee, across a broad chest and up a strong neck...

"Hey"

"...Jake?!" I half jumped, I knew the expression I wore was impolite but his smile made up for my rudeness. He didn't say anything else, giving me one strange look before mingling in _badly_ with the rest of the class and moving to the back, taking his seat and bowing his head as though he would turn invisible.

Invisible...

That had been the old Leah hadn't it. The Leah Sam Uley had failed to see. I smiled at the apple, it was red and large; I had my own adventure hadn't I? Away from Forks and all the confinement.

I was anything but invisible.

Xx~xx~xX

"Ms Clearwater?"

"Hey!" I smiled nervously, constantly looking behind me. The box was heavy in my hands, my bag hung loosely on my shoulder but I wouldn't slow down. I wanted to get home fast, to leave the school and avoid so much.

Mr Gareth, a shabby Killian Gareth to the rest of the teachers, kept up with me easily and murmured his offers of helping me with the box of art journals. I shooed his hand, manoeuvring the box against my hip and taking the car keys out of my pocket.

The school bell would go off and by then, I should be home. He'd probably make his way to Sue's now that he knew I was back on the Reservation, and by the time he got to Sue's (depending on his own speed and means of transport), I would be safely in town checking out my new apartment.

"You didn't join us for lunch" Killian smiled. He stood patiently by my crappy Beetle, and watched me with mild concern as I shoved the box in the backseat and searched for flat shoes to wear while driving.

"Yeah... I don't do lunch" I muttered, removing the heels and throwing them in the back seat. He seemed confused about what I was doing, watching me put the flats on.

"I was your senior, remember... back in High School?" he was holding the door open when I turned around. I didn't recognise him at all but it _was _the Reservation and everyone knew each other...

_We are a family_, Sam's voice rang from across the bonfire so many nights ago.

"Yeah... no" I shook my head, looking back at the school. I wondered if Jacob was sitting by a window, staring out at me... watching me run from him and his secret world. A world I had sought after so many other nights ago; night and day, dreams and nightmares. It had been I who had harassed him into revealing it to me, hadn't it...

And here I was, pretending it all didn't exist...

"I thought so..." he wouldn't release my door, prolonging the conversation. "Listen uhm... there is a game on tonight, at Red Fish Bar..."  
"I don't drink" I lied.

"I've seen you there before, last weekend in fact" he smiled knowingly and I blushed, folding my arms over my chest. "Do you have a twin?" he tried to keep a straight face.

"Dual personality disorder" I had to smile.

"Well, no pressure..." he released the door. "If I see you... I see you"

"I'm not invisible, after all" I laughed, jumping into the car and closing the door. The car started after two tries, and I was driving away to my new world.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**ANGELA WEBER**

**X**

**x**

Home was a painful place to be right now.

I wasn't sure if we could be here; everything coated with my father-everything denying his absence; his cup was there, the pictures there, his coat by the door...

Wouldn't he walk in any moment, tired and hungry? Could I not make him a meal-give him that one last thing?

"I just think it's a time for _us..._" Aunt May stressed, wringing the dishcloth in her hands to keep from exploding. Her ears were red and every now and then she pressed her lips hard (if I said something she felt retarded) "For us as a family to settle in, to get used to..."  
"You want me to get used to my father's death?" I sounded calm but the cold anger was back, the anger that Edward had been trying to get me to control. The anger I knew made him uneasy; he had never seen this side of me. I seldom got angry...

I was calm, I was complacent... until, I wasn't. Until I was what Aunt May did not like; until I was my mother.

"Edward should abide by some rules" Aunt May said firmly and I felt like telling her he was a vampire, and rules were not made for the immortal. At least, not curfew...

"Okay" it was a difficult word to say but I said it. I hoped Edward was satisfied.

"Fine" she smiled. "Now, about the meals..."  
"I make the meals"  
"Angela..." she sighed, rolling her eyes.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD CULLEN**

**X**

**X**

He was outside, in the trees, waiting.

He knew I was inside Angela's home just as I knew that he was outside in the shadows. Angela was downstairs with her Aunt, going through bills and funeral arrangements. The boys were watching television, barely... and were plotting to sneak upstairs into their older sister's room, were they knew her boyfriend would be.

Aunt May didn't know I was here of course, but they knew. Children could be almost supernaturally observant, I had realised and as much as this could have been put down to them simply noting Angela's routine and behaviour...

They always knew when I was there.

He wanted me to come outside, he wanted to talk about the treaty; but he _didn't _actually want to at the same time. He had been sent by his leader, he was the only one right now that this _Sam _trusted to have enough control with the _Cullens._

I was outside in the minute, one glance at the house and a silent prayer that the twins would hold out on sneaking upstairs for another thirty minutes while I dealt with the wolf. I walked human slow away from the house, my whole body tensing with each step I was away from Angela, from them. I hadn't been capable of leaving them at all and as much as the thirst was demanding I hunt bigger game than the Forks resident's pets... I just couldn't.

"Jacob" I nodded at the giant wolf and it snarled in return. "I can hear you fine" I added, tapping the side of my head and he nodded in understanding but still backed away to change back to his human form. I looked back at the house, through the night and at a frustrated Aunt May trying to make Angela let her make dinner.

He changed while I smiled at the odd fight the two women were having.

"Edward" his voice couldn't hide the dislike but I didn't care for it. I didn't give a damn about him, but his ancestors... as violent as they had been, were honourable. I could scarce remove the image from my mind of Ephraim Black.

"The treaty is still intact" I answered all the questions his leader had sent him to ask with that single statement, but the answer didn't please him. His mind turned sour, his thoughts stuttering with violence and he shook.

He vibrated minutely, the singular thought that I was an entitled demon corrupting Angela vibrating with his body. This angered me too, and we stood there in the darkness glaring at each other. The thirst didn't help my temperament to the situation and for a moment I was very aware that we were two teenagers; two teenage anomalies about to level the perimeter of trees we stood in.

"Her father died" I said, remembering my true age. A century of experience could not be tarnished by a brawl with an angst riddled wolf. "Murder" my voice was tense, my eyes closed. He wouldn't attack now, I was sure. "If you can understand that sort of thing..."  
"My mother..." he was about to say 'was murdered' but then decided against it; he decided against sharing such intimate information with me, his thought stuttering with violence once more and a torrent of images filling his mind.

I grasped enough of it, Jacob's mind was vivid; after he had _phased_ and had been permitted to know tribe secrets, he believed his mother's death had been vampire related.

"The treaty is still intact" I repeated, sincerely and he nodded, backing away. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be gone; the images and feelings of angst and loneliness filling his mind once more. Leah's face flashed over it all before being violently squashed, the force of his effort leaving him mentally exhausted.

This was a habit of his, I could tell; forgetting her. This was a habit of his, but it seemed to be bad for his mental state. I smiled, hadn't I been through it before with Angela? Denial?

"Just..." he finished "Keep it that way"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**ANGELA WEBER**

**X**

**x**

A part of me wanted to disappear for a bit.

Just a tiny bit...

_Orphaned._

It boomed in my mind, it thrashed in my heart; I looked at them and I hurt. One day, they would want the truth-what happened to their mother, to their father? Secret wars, dangerous lies... everything kills.

"Angela...?" he called me to reality softly. When I looked up at him, it felt like a soft breeze waking me; I had tears in my eyes and anger in my heart.

Hot and coiling, vengeance and determination.

"Here" he handed me the phone. I took it in confusion and looked at the screen. Leah Clearwater's name was on it, her number underneath. "You could go to her" he continued gently. "For a bit"

"A tiny bit..." he laughed but I knew how serious he was when he said that but the shock was him _wanting _me to go... to cross over to the Quileute.

"She doesn't stay in their territory any longer" he said softly. "Jacob came by to re-establish the treaty" he added. "I got it from his mind"

I exhaled and looked at the boys once more, curled on my bed; I hurt, I pained... they did too, but I knew the truth; at least, I knew there were secrets, wars and lies.

"I can't leave them?" I looked up at him. One tear had fallen, but the sadness was so deeply buried beneath the anger, the determination... _vengeance_. When had I ever been like this?

"I want you to forget it for a bit" he whispered and before I could tell him I could never forget the sight of my father laying on that pavement, staring up at the night sky... his thumb brushed over my cheek, removed the tear in an ice caress. "I want you to forget the vengeance..." he kissed my forehead.

"..." I was about to say I wanted it and I would never let it go but his thumb was on my lips.

"Think before you speak..." he sighed. Misery was in his eyes and he swerved them back, to the boys who loved him dearly, who loved his family wholly "You are not like this"

"They made me this way" I said taking his hand away from my face. "Does it sadden you that this is the end result of it all?"  
"No" he closed his eyes and opened them slowly, he seemed closer to me but I was so far away... back with Angelica, back with my father... "You scare me"

I couldn't speak; he meant it.

"Leah needs to know what has happened" he said "You haven't spoken to her, have you?"  
"No, I haven't" I answered truthfully, too caught up in how selfish I had been with my anger; I had hurt him.

"Call her..." he looked back to the lounge "There is still a long way to go before we say goodbye to your father"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**LEAH CLEARWATER**

**X**

**x**

"They are back" Jacob Black said.

I couldn't release the door handle, keeping the door open only by inches so all I could see was a slit of his tall frame. The shock was on my face, I could feel it rippling over my features; shock that was unrelated to his singular statement although I had understood it completely (_they _were back), this shock existed simply because he was at my door.

Shock that he had known where I lived, that he was here, that he could have been at my door all those times but he hadn't been. This shock was solely because he was here... and behind me, sitting on the couch with a knowing smile on his face was Killian.

Jacob's knock had broken a heated make out; I was looking at him from behind the door guilty as _fuck_, knowing that if he had not knocked... if he had not been here, what would have happened.

Where exactly that make out would have ended...

"I thought you should know" his voice was rough, his eyes hard.

"Thanks" I breathed.

"And.." his hand reached through the space between us, it reached for me and I immediately inched the already small space close, leaving a gap that only allowed me to see just his eye. He retracted his hand and burning shame spread through me. I opened the door half way.

He moved rapidly when I opened the door once more, pulling my dress strap up my shoulder and brushing my hair with his fingers "Angela's father died" his hand fell to his side dejectedly.

"Oh" a hollow feeling spread inside my chest, confusion thick in my mind.

He was backing away, leaving and suddenly I didn't want him to go. "I'll see you at school" he breathed "Enjoy your night with..." he couldn't finish, pain on his face and it was beautiful and wretched, and I wanted to confess a sin to make it better. Anything, _something_ but I had no words, the feelings convoluted and thoughts all wrong.

This was wrong. He shouldn't be here... I had done the right thing, hadn't I?

Jacob was gone, and I was at the door with his voice ringing in my head.

Angela Weber's father had died, they were back...

And the sin was in my heart, a seed growing once more after I had uprooted the weed once and I realised I hadn't tried nearly hard enough to free myself from it. It was inescapable, an exceptional force in my life right now and it fought against my stubbornness.

I couldn't shake Jacob Black.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**ANGELA WEBER**

**X**

**x**

The house was filled with people. I suspected every member of father's congregation was here; I saw Mike Newton's parents standing a little way off by the dining table, holding cups of tea and whispering to each other. It was funny how everyone wore grave expressions; they looked like masks, like I was at a masquerade ball for the miserable.

I had never thought about alcohol, but today... I think I would have liked to be _drunk._

"Angela?" a hand touched my shoulder and I turned around begrudgingly; it was Jessica and I didn't have the patience to deal with her immature understanding of death and compassion. I realised, watching everyone in what had been an unnoticeable corner in the house, I realised how utterly changed I was.

My peers were children. They were like my brothers to me now; childish, spoilt, inexperienced... they had no understanding of life. They had no understanding of the world we were living in. They could never survive... not the way I did. They could never be as I was right now, forever changed.

"Jess" my tone was dry. I didn't care when she was shocked at my impatience.

"I'm so very..."  
"Yeah" I cut her "It's terrible"

She blinked, confused. She tilted her head, a question on her face; who was I?

"They said it was murder..." she smiled nervously, her hand that had been on her shoulder dropping to her side heavily; she may have wanted to hug me but thought better of it; I was scowling nonstop. Rosalie had lectured me on 'friendliness' and Esme had said how people deal with grief differently.

I wanted to deal with my grief with a shot gun and grenade; I wanted to deal with my grief with my own murder; I wanted to deal with my grief with _revenge._

"Yes" I stared right into her eyes and she looked away, looked at Rosalie (who was flitting around offering tea and startling humans, she was striking in a black full length but body hugging dress). Rosalie smiled a little and made her way to us, Jessica tensing.

"I didn't know you were friends with _her!_" Jessica hissed, elbowing me painfully in the ribs.

"She is my _boyfriend's _sister after all" I snapped, annoyed at both Rosalie(for not being scary in this moment and shooing Jessica with her infamous death glare) and Jessica(for being Jessica).

I didn't catch Jessica's reply at my statement, immediately excusing myself the moment Rosalie arrived "I have to go to the kitchen"

The kitchen had people too. People who were determined to eat us out of house and home... people who I soon realised were as large as Emmett. People... who were Quileute.

"Jacob?"

"Hey Angela!" he was in a suit that fit just a tad bit too tightly and opposite him, scowling dangerously was Leah Clearwater.

"Leah..." it was the first smile (at least, half smile) I had had in a while. "I meant to call you..."

"I meant to call you too" she moved a step toward me and Jacob immediately repositioned himself, frowning so fearsomely I had the urge to leave the kitchen and the house. Leah looked just above me, Jacob too and I realised that standing behind me was Edward.

"Jacob and _company_" Edward said. His hand went around my waist, pulling me to him.

"Leech" Jacob said cruelly.

They glared at each other for a minute, the air thrumming with an unpredictable violence. I wasn't in the mood for much, already wishing I was not here (which hurt my insides, this was my father's goodbye after all).

"Leah..." I sighed, removing Edward's hand slowly. He allowed this; probably reading my mind and knowing were my temper was at the moment. "Let's go talk outside"  
"I thought you'd never ask" she smiled.

Xx~xx~xX

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Ok, long overdue but I am on vac now so... we shall move things along diligently!**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	3. Welcome to Adulthood

**ANGELA**

Outside turned into a long walk in the woods.

We didn't say much to each other, moving over logs and rocks clumsily and looking over our shoulders every now and then. It was obvious she expected Jacob and his friends to be following after her… I expected Edward to be right behinds us, a disapproving look in his dark eyes. None of that happened, although my phone vibrated in my pocket twice.

I decided I'd look at the message once I was certain that we were far enough that an honest conversation could be had. I guessed she knew that this was my reason for pushing us so deep into the woods; she didn't complain and only let out a knowing chuckle every now and then.

I sat on a large rock, letting out a shaky breath and wiping my brow. She placed her boot-clad foot on the rock and smiled at me.

I smiled back, fully and in a second I was giggling.

"What?" she demanded.

"You and Jacob…?" I raised an eyebrow.

"NO!" she hissed, moving threateningly close to me. "No" she repeated, slower with a very worried look on her face. "He has misplaced feelings, number one and… the tribe… very overbearing. He is practically part of the council you know…"

She didn't finish defending herself or denying that she did indeed have a soft spot for Jake. She looked ahead and got lost in her thoughts. I realized then that although my life had so many hazy spots… hers did too. Even if they weren't the vampire kind, the assassin kind… they were hazy.

"I thought I wouldn't find you here" I told her. "I thought… you'd be gone. I thought I'd be alone"

"You have Edward. You have them" she said this with a hint of coldness that made me uneasy. I could see them here with us, in my mind's eye; two men-for Jacob looked like he was sixteen going on twenty five-standing between our strange friendship.

"You didn't miss me?" I laughed at the end of her statement but I could feel the seriousness of the words radiating through my eyes. She looked away and when she looked back at me she smiled away that coldness from before.

"I did" she said softly, leaning against a tree opposite me "I did" she said this sternly as though she thought I would refute it somehow.

"Tell me what you got up to then?" I was filled with unfamiliar warmth, something I had never known or perhaps forgotten I hadn't really had a friend had I? Jessica? No, not Jess… as much as I had liked to believe that we were friends…

"I… well, learnt a few meaningless things" she rubbed her hands on her jeans and looked away from me. She seemed shy, reminding me of the time she had been a teacher at Forks, a time when she was uncertain of who she was.

Did she know who she was now?

"You are so curious, I can see it all over your face!" she laughed but the odd shyness was still there.

"You are so interesting"  
"No I'm not" she looked back down, pawing the ground with the tip of her left boot. "No, Angela… I really am not. All I've been trying to do is go away… from here" she looked up wistfully at the trees.

"Here is as safe as it gets" I said.

"You think if you had been with them…" she closed her eyes, the words coming out slow and deliberate, the coldness controlled over 'them' "If you had been with the Cullens" Leah opened her eyes, her expression controlled "Your father wouldn't have died?"

"He didn't just die… he was shot" I tried for _controlled_ as she had. We both didn't want to go to war right now, after returning to our friendship. "Murdered…" I breathed. "Killed in cold blood…"

She silenced.

"There are details of that night I have not told anyone…" I said. "One detail, really… and I think if I told you, you would understand as I can tell you clearly don't, why it is I would bring the twins back here… to _them_"

"Blow my mind" she waved her hand for me to get on with it. I breathed, looking around us.

"I doubt they are within ear shot" Leah sighed "Between Jacob wanting to keep an eye on Edward and Edward wanting to respect you as I am sure he does…"

"He tends to put safety over respect…" I said, still looking around.

"And what, I'm a threat?"  
"We went into the meadow alone… err…" I said slowly.

"You realize, besides him being capable of accidentally killing you… your relationship, even removing the vampire undead quality… is entirely unhealthy?"  
"Shut up" I smiled "What do you know about relationships, Miss I-shall-never-love-after-Sam?"

She laughed.

I liked that I was the only one allowed to joke about the Sam situation. I liked that my mind was off the grief, that everything seemed natural and easy with Leah. But the tears were in my eyes when we were done giggling, the small prick throbbing more prominently and the memory of that night washing over my vision.

A tear fell over my cheek, then another. I wiped them away, she silenced and said nothing. She allowed me to compose myself because she knew I could be strong.

I was strong.

"They wanted to kill _me_ Leah" I said.

"No…"  
"Yes" I looked up at her and she believed me. "Alice 'saw' me vanishing from their future minutes or hours before, I don't know really and the Cullens called me then. My phone vibrated, I paused… and he died"

"What?" she breathed.

"It was _I_ who got him killed!" I was crying again, this time with abandon and she moved from the tree and came to me, holding me clumsily but I grabbed on to her for dear life. The woods were silent, and my sobs were loud-finally, they could be loud. The twins weren't around, not Edward and not my Aunt.

I could let it all out, finally.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**LEAH**

I couldn't go back into the house.

I looked at it, watched Angela compose herself by the kitchen door; she stood still for a moment, smoothing her dress before inhaling and then she entered. I could see her in my mind, smiling and quiet, greeting everyone and listening to their condolences. I could see _him_, her vampire too; standing somewhere… a dark corner, watching her suspiciously before appearing in that ghostly manner by her side.

"_What did she want, what did she say…"_ he would demand. I wondered what he would do if he pieced it together, that she wanted me involved? What would he do if he knew that she could go to such lengths to connive against him-her vampire?

Revenge. Justice... the truth. The _truth_.

"Don't think about it" she had told me.

Funny thing to say to someone; the more I wasn't supposed to think about, the more my mind obsessed. It was such an unreal story, wasn't it?

And what was most unbelievable for me was that she had entrusted me to find out more.

I turned away, turning up the music, the song blasting through my headphones. She promised this strategy made it difficult for her vampire to hear thoughts. Unfortunately she had no advice on perusing teen wolves.

"LEAH!" Jacob had played dumb about my ignoring him, placing himself in front of me and scowling. He reached for my left earphone and I angled my head away, sighing.

"What? I stopped the music on my phone but stubbornly kept the earphones in place.

"Wh…" he couldn't talk suddenly, his scowl defusing in the face of my own frown. He looked back at the house, back at me and at the woods where Angela and I had gone into.

"You expect me to believe that you were kind enough to give Angela and I peace and privacy?" I asked.

"The… mother of them and the pretty… scary blonde one insisted" he said slowly, trying not to say vampire or recall their names "And I was more concerned with making sure _Edward_ wasn't going after you… both of you, uh… and Sam said you knew not to meddle with Angela Weber now and told me not to push it"

He spoke like the child I knew he really was, in that moment and it kindled my patience somewhat.

"Her father died and I am her friend" I said slowly. "You can relay that to Sam. It wasn't a suicide mission or devil worship… it was a private chat"

I made to move past him and he grabbed my hand, firmly but gently and the heat from him seemed to sear me into a standstill. "Don't get wrapped up in them Leah" he whispered.

"I don't want to get wrapped up in you either…" I said, looking up at him. He was tall, too tall and roguish; dangerous looking even when his face was filled with gentleness. "You realize…" I took my hand away, touching my wrist; it was still hot from his touch "You are all the same to me. Vampires or wolves"

He cringed back when I said the words, his eyes wide and hurt.

"You can spy on me, you can try meddling in my life…" I told him "But I don't trust you or them. Sam or Dr Cullen. What I do know, is Angela needs me. And you better not get in the way… Jacob Black"

He couldn't speak and my heart was pounding. I didn't need him meddling, I didn't need him pricking things hidden inside me; and this was the best way to help us both.

"I'll see you at school" I breathed and walked away from him. I didn't dare look back, afraid he would be standing there watching me walk away. I didn't dare look back, but in the middle of the quiet residential area I heard a strange sound; a hissing sound like a blade cutting through the air, and movement so quiet but a presence so profound…

I didn't dare look back, but when I _did…_ I saw russet blur into the woods.

Xx~xx~xX

The hardest part about being an adult is having to take care of yourself. I had left the windows of my apartment open, and it was so cold when I got inside. I had left the sliding door to the balcony open too and in the distance I could see the lights of other buildings. I closed the door behind me after entering and leaned my back on it, recalling Angela's first instruction; she couldn't tell me much she said, not just yet… but the first thing I had to do was find out on blocking telepathy _further_.

"Your father is dead, the same people who killed your mother, killed him… by mistake, it is you they want dead…" I repeated the story to myself "And your _real _father may be alive. This is may be revenge on him… but that all doesn't matter. You need to know who it is that killed your mother… and Edward knows this"

It was all she had said, in truth. She had not asked me to find that person out on behalf of her. Simply telling me the truth, a truth the telepath knew…

There was more to come.

There was a world we both didn't know about, Angela and I, past vampires and certainly past wolves. In our own human world, there were secrets and darkness… dangerous things. Sam was so busy worrying about how the Cold Ones were a danger to us when humans could be even more dangerous? Was a death any different if it came at the hands of a Cold One or a Human?

"I need a drink" I sighed, placing my bag on the kitchen counter. "I need a cat too" I flicked the light on and felt the loneliness of the place, the unfriendliness of my own apartment. The Cullen's being back did not make me feel unsafe or… safer. I felt weary instead, like their existence was actually draining me energy… but alongside them, Sam's existence was just as sapping. I had two missed calls from him and three from Emily. It was seven thirty in the evening and the Tribe meeting was at nine; their calls may have been a friendly reminder or Jacob may have alerted them to my anti-wolf-patriarchy sentiments and they suspected I had reverted into my old state.

I wish I could tell them how _not _that Leah I was…

The refrigerator is almost empty when I open it, a single bottle of water sitting lonely on the top shelf. My stomach churned hungrily and mind spun; Angela Weber was trying to be assassinated… not by vampires and not by wolves but by humans.

"Humans" I chuckled "Almost forgot about them, didn't we Angela"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD**

"Edward, we have tried for so many years not to affect the lives of the humans that we live side by side with our nature…" Carlisle went on "To use our nature at bare minimum in their presence and only where necessary…"

This was not what I wanted to hear but he didn't know that, and truthfully didn't care; he was serious. I was to allow Angela her human life; after all, that was what I had always pledged to in the beginning. He ignored the fact that the beginning of that, before, had not involved any potential death to her…

Well, outside of me.

"So you want me to allow her to consider this…" I said coolly, touching the wooden plaque and pinching its tip hard. Childish, immature but I felt… unhinged. No one seemed to understand her as I did. She could seem so… passive… so, utterly harmless… until she wasn't.

The problem with Angela's episodes of bravado is that they were devoid of all rationality and she tended to forget the fact that she was so breakable. That if she broke, I'd break… selfish.

I was selfish.

The plaque was ruined and Carlisle wore a gentle frown on his pale face, dark eyes staring straight at my hand that hadn't released it. I knew he liked the plaque, he knew I knew he liked the plaque…

"What do you want me to tell you then?" he sat down and said nothing about what I had done. "Lock her up in her room and it is okay to follow her everywhere?"

"Yes!" I growled and he pursed his lips. I looked away, the shame overwhelming because I may have meant that. I might have wanted just that; lock her in her room, chaperone her and never let her out of my sight…

"I understand" he closed his eyes "You thought you had lost her until you were in England and found her…"  
"So you can imagine how _grating _it is to me that she would interact with _them_!"

"It's Leah" Carlisle sighed "Her friend. Not _them._ There are no _thems _left in this new age Edward"

"You know I wasn't being racist"  
"Maybe a little supernaturalist?" he quirked his lips, a smile. "Your problem is… she now knows how to keep things from you. That has never happened before"

"She felt better after she spoke to Leah" I sighed "I was happy, she was smiling a little more… but I can't help it. I want to be the one… the _only_ one who can do that. It scares me that maybe, I might be obsolete to her wellbeing. I failed to protect her there… I could have saved her father for her…"

"Edward" he was silent and in my engrossment with Angela and the funeral, the goddamned gunmen… I realized something; I had not been home, truly in a long time.

_We have been called to Volterra._

"What?" the feeling of no control shook me to my core. I already wanted to go back to Angela, to watch over her even though she had finally managed to send me away verbally-this, was exceptionally unexpected.

As a telepath and a brother to a psychic… unexpected was _unusual_.

"How did I miss that?" I breathed.

"The message came during the funeral. I had to leave" Carlisle sighed. He seemed weary, his thoughts stringent and drawn; what could Aro require from him? "I have told no one yet"

Volterra was always accepting of Carlisle, the one thing it needed and wanted to break. Aro's obsession with breaking him had known no bounds when he had stayed there before our family, before me… and after our family, Aro wanted _everything_; vampires with talents were a rarity and our coven had three.

"I cannot go" I said automatically.

"It is decided then" Carlisle smiled sadly.

"I am sure he would not take from you your thoughts…" I began but I was not sure of this truthfully; if Carlisle requested it, Aro would normally not use his gift of sifting through the minds on him. Carlisle was well respected in the Volturi although they mocked his 'vegetarian' lifestyle and passiveness.

"He may give me that grace" Carlisle smiled. "I shudder to think what could possibly be urgent, Edward but in the event that he does find from me memories since our first meeting here in Forks; I would have endangered not only Angela but the Quileute tribe as well"

He sat back down and watched me; his thought cool and calm, as only he knew how to be in such chaos. He knew I could be most selfish, he was my father and friend, brother and when it had come to it… comrade. He knew also, that I was good.

But was I? Was what he thought of me truly good? For only one of us knew the other intimately; the one with the telepathy; and in my fear of losing her-I may not have been afraid to sacrifice the Quileute to Caius and his craze with werewolves…

I turned away from Carlisle's gaze, disgusted with myself. All my silly worries and petty disgruntlements on Leah Clearwater and Ephraim's pompous descendent vanished and I could see Aro's cruel curious gaze on me…

His gaze was almost as worse as Jane, at times.

"You cannot go there without the ability to know what it is he wants, what he intends to do" I breathed, the words exhausting my emotions; yes, I was selfish but not nearly as selfish as I would require myself to be to be able to save her from _everything._

"Stay, if you have to" he said.

"If I don't go… I may just introduce another danger into Angela's life… and foolishly invite it upon that of my family too" I sat down again and destroyed his plaque completely.

In a second, Carlisle's phone beeped-a message-and I read it with him.

"Eleazar has been summoned too?!" I frowned at this. "It is the heads, is it not? The heads of covens?"

"It may appear so" Carlisle rose up, now visibly disturbed by the odd behavior of the vampire governing royals.

"This is most… disturbing" I breathed.

There were no such things as vampire celebrations or coronations into the Guard; which would have made more sense to invite upon the heads of covens; for something _important and grand. _Immortality was as important and grand as it could get, in our world. Nothing was worth celebrating, or had been since my birthing into vampirism.

I frowned, my mind whooshing with thoughts; teeming things overlapping each other and running across from logic to assumption.

If I didn't go, it would change a lot.

"Alice didn't see this?" I asked. She had at a point, once watched the Volturi closely although she had only met Aro and his Guard the one time when we were in England.

"No" Carlisle said "No one knows… unless she has had the vision subsequently since I received the message"

"Abrupt" I breathed "She may not have had it if it was truly of urgency"

We looked at each other; his fear lay in that one thing; whatever it was, would it result in Aro requesting vampires with heightened senses, extra-strengths? What would he ask of us and what could we sacrifice.

We could sacrifice no one; we could sacrifice nothing.

"Edward…" Carlisle began and I shook my head.

"I do not trust the Quileute" I said. "Your trust in them baffles. They are _just _like werewolves…"  
"I thought we discussed this that first time?" Carlisle was patient "They are most certainly not werewolves…"

"But their temperament is the same!" I growled "My fear comes from their sentiment towards us; which may be cast upon Angela as a result of my sentiment and relationship with her!"  
"They would not"  
"I have heard Jacob Black's thoughts!" I hissed "The same as my fear of Angela's association with Leah with regards to them… he fears Leah's association with Angela with regards to us!"

"Those fears can be tamed" Carlisle's calm aggravated me; he saw no problem with the current safety of our family-for Esme, Rose and Alice would stay as well as Angela-in the presence of the shapeshifters. He trusted them, as he had Ephraim (much to my initial chagrin and eventual acknowledgement).

"There is no other way" I conceded. "Jasper and I will accompany you to Volterra"


	4. Once Upon a Time

**ONCE UPON A TIME **

**Part 1**

She played with her car keys insistently moving them from one hand to the other, hooking them onto her index finger and swinging them; occasionally she would clasp them hard in her palm, her pliable human hand trying to ignore the pain she felt… I was sure.

I didn't stop her or warn her on the bruise to come in the palm of her hand, by the inner flesh of her thumb. She needed to get the nerves out I supposed; what she needed to ask me was a lot but it was her right; the future was not mine to toy with at times, and as she did with the keys… insisting on toying with it would leave bruises.

Angela's future was her own but what she didn't understand was that we were in it. Her decisions were hers but we would all suffer in a ripple effect from them; the ones closest to her first… and it would just spread out, rolling for our eternity.

"Alice" she finally looked at me and I smiled at her, defeated. Where she had only been deliberating, I had already argued with her for minutes in the future.

"I need to find out who I am" she said.

"You are Angela?" I smiled. "Edward's Angela…"  
"No" she said this firmly, her eyes so far away and determined. "I have my own identity away from the _magic _of being_ Edwards._ I come from a place, there is a past engrained in my DNA and my being will come undone if I ignore it"  
"Your mother's life is coiled with dangers that can threaten even vampires" I said carefully "I wished you wouldn't go down this path; the road you are choosing…"

I paused, swirl of vision filtering in my mind like a cloud of sleep; I saw through the windscreen for a moment, the world outside and then it hobbled and fused into Angela looking angrily and determined ahead, a dark night and an unknown grand garden. She didn't look the same; she looked so fierce, threatening…

But I could see no further. It stopped, not an ending as was the case when a life was extinguished from my vision; but a shielding. _Wolves or the unknown.. but what could be unknown to us, outside of the Quileute…?_

"The road you have already chosen, events you have already set in motion" I breathed, shaking my head. "Nothing can be done to dissuade you"

"My father died" Angela was cooling, freezing; turning so cold, as she sat beside me. "And you kept your visions of Angelica's past crawling into my life to yourself'

"I wish my visions were mine to control but they aren't dear Angela!" I was pained and angry with myself, with how limited my sight was (as Caius had once pointed out, thus warding off the Volturi's urgent interest in me for that time). "My gift can only be guided and not controlled. Most decisions that I make towards my family's future are a gamble that I normally win. But that victory came about because we had all lived , had our loves and had once vested interest… but tell me Angela; have you lived, is your love matured and seasoned and what _are _your interests?"

"Separate" she said airily, talking to herself "Separate… that may be why at times, you miss me"

"Your friendship with Leah has caused future events regarding you to be terribly opaque; ominous at best" I breathed, touching her hand to pull her back to me. The mall was ahead of us; our ruse to be away from Edward, who had learnt to somewhat relax on his protectiveness.

"I told Edward not to interfere with human events because they would garner vampiric reaction"

"What does that even mean!" Angela snapped.

"You see, I saw Aro" I whispered. "It had nothing to do with you; or did it? I cannot be sure now but my own family, Angela… is at a dilemma"

"Aro?" she blinked, dumbfounded by the name "What does that matter" she disregarded, exceptionally stubborn in her misery "This is my life. My future is not a TV program"

"Don't worry about that" I sighed "My subscription to your future seems to be expiring soon"

"Alice, I need one thing and one thing alone" Angela breathed.

"Leah's?" Alice smiled. "I guess… well, if he finds out he finds out"  
"Edward Cullen is not the boss of me or you" it was her first smile for me in a few days. I returned it willingly enough. I exited the car and proceeded to the mall; retail therapy to ward of all thoughts on doom.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Angela waited impatiently outside of Leah's apartment, trying to stop herself from knocking on the door a third time. She could hear movement and a soft giggle-Leah's, she was sure-but she wasn't concerned with the mystery of it.

Her impatience was prickling, her mind swimming with words; Alice's and her dead father's. When Leah opened the door, Angela wasn't expecting it and had turned her head to meet Leah's eyes still holding the frown her thoughts had caused.

"Did I…" Leah frowned back at Angela, but in embarrassment she finished "Make you wait too long?"  
"Yes" Angela said bluntly, pushing past Leah who jumped back from the door with a yelp and began stuttering an explanation to _something _that Angela found unconnected to her current frame of mind and dilemma. "I mean, what was the big…"

Hold up, Angela wanted to finish but then she looked back to Leah as Leah shut her front door and noted that Leah had a sheet wrapped around her. The sheet was trailing the ground and had found itself stuck between the door and door frame as Leah had closed the door and Leah was currently in the process of tugging the sheet to try and get it free, whilst trying to keep it secured to her body with her other hand.

"Leah…?" Angela frowned and behind her she heard a soft "Hello"

Her initial thought, which she didn't realize at the time had come through her mind in all its _scandalous_ glory had _somehow_ managed to push away thoughts on revenge, Angelica and this strange 'Aro', was that Leah had _bedded_ Jacob Black.

"You _didn't_…!" Angela breathed, an odd knowing smile playing on her lips. Angela didn't dare look back as yet, glaring at Leah who for a moment was trying to multitask freeing her sheet, keeping the sheet around her body and understanding Angela's accusation.

"Didn't…" Leah huffed , glaring down at the hem jammed by the door "What, exactly? I didn't what Angela…"

Angela was about to say "You and Jacob, oh my word…", her lips already quirking up at the corners and brain already sending the instruction to her hands to cover her eyes before turning around to speak to Jacob (she was unsure on how covered he would be judging by Leah's hast wardrobe state), but then Leah's front door opened…

The light seeped through, the door was opened and it sent Leah sprawling on the carpeted floor (which left Leah's forearms with carpet burns, and left the sheet somewhere _other _than Leah's body), and for a moment, the light behind the imposing man cast his front in shadows.

But Angela knew him.

"Jake" Angela breathed and this time, her hands forgot to go over her eyes and went over her mouth.

"Mr. Gareth" Jacob greeted the man who most certainly was _not _Jacob behind Angela stiffly and then Angela wheeled around, her hand still clasping her mouth as though to hold in the "Oh MY GOD!" pounding in her mind.

The mystery man was in his jeans, his upper torso bare and expression sheepish. He didn't respond to Jacob's greeting, instead making a show of gathering the rest of his clothes and searching for his car keys before-very quickly, as Leah gathered her sheet around her body once more, kissing Leah on the forehead and exiting the apartment.

Without closing the door, Angela noted.

Jacob said nothing, reaching behind him without looking at what his hand was doing, and with a flick of his wrist he shut the door so violently that the sound was like thunder, the walls bearing the force up to the ceiling so the light piece dangling vibrated pathetically.

There was a thrumming silence for a moment, Angela's eyes wide on Jacob's face while Jacob glared ahead of her at the spot where Mr. Gareth had been.

"Go get dressed Leah" Angela said quickly, gathering her wits and understanding that Leah would need more time to gather her own wits. Leah didn't dare look at Jacob, half scuttling away and disappearing to go to her room.

Jacob didn't move from the spot, didn't stop staring behind Angela and his eyes were wide, the color of them fusing from black to an amber. His face was redder, his muscles clenched and hands fisted at his sides.

"Uhm…" Angela tried but the sound of her voice seemed to snap Jacob out of whatever whirl wind of emotion he was experiencing. He looked at her, not viciously but she still felt fear and tried to smile; it was a grimace.

He shook his head momentarily to clear his mind before rubbing his forehead furiously with a still fisted hand. "I uh… I am going to leave. Tell Leah… tell her uhm… God, I don't know…" he looked up to the ceiling and seemed young again, nonthreatening and Angela wanted to touch his arm and tell him something of meaning and value….Something that would make both Leah's current behavior and Jacob's own mismatched affections okay to have in a world so… _convoluted_ with secrets.

"Tell her… I came by" Jacob muttered. He left then, making a show of closing the door gently.

Angela took in a deep breath, wondering how long it would take before things just… came undone. Could one really attempt normalcy in the face of such things, such illogicality?  
"He left?" Leah came out, tying her morning gown to her. Her face was moist, she had washed it Angela thought.

"Uhm… he said… for me to tell you that… he came?" Angela's face puckered trying to make sense of Jacob's odd request but she shook it all out of her mind. Everything that had happened was peculiar but none of it of importance; importance to her, she noted and maybe it made her a little selfish.

"Are you okay?" Angela asked after a moment, watching Leah reach into her cupboard and retrieve a half-finished bottle of wine. The question had come about as a result of her guilt at not wanting to actually talk about what had happened, but to talk to Leah she needed Leah to be capable of focusing.

"Brat" Leah managed. At first she drunk from the bottle itself before taking a used wine glass and pouring wine into it. "Stupid brat" she repeated. "Barging in here… just… being so… goddamned nosey. Probably spying on me all this time"

"Uhm, so you are okay… or aren't?" Angela asked. Leah took a glass, a clean one this time and poured the black red wine into it. She pushed it to Angela, who had not been asked if she wanted a drink or not.

"Err, you don't expect…" Angela began and Leah shushed her swiftly.

"I have two bottles and by the time your done telling me whatever it is you want to tell me, Angela…" Leah set about retrieving the two full bottles and Angela calculated that that put them at two and a half bottles. "These…" Leah pushed them in front of Angela, who had taken a seat by the kitchen island "Need to be finished, Ms. Weber"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

It was a strange feeling, not being in control.

Not knowing what could happen, what the future had in store. I was no psychic guaranteed but my future and my environment was always controlled. The threats had always been to a bare minimum. This eternity had had nothing to dishevel it from simply rolling out till judgment day finally found us.

My thoughts were on Angela while everyone else's thoughts were on Volterra; she had not picked up her cellphone nor responded to three of my text messages. I felt selfish and infantile in the face of this, but my distraction was warranted; was she out of danger and was she more importantly, still bent on cheating on my sense of satisfaction to her safety… with danger itself? Concurrently the distraction being established by _that_ uncertainty, its selfish nature breathed with mocking vitality to the understanding that I was imprisoned by what _was _a certainty in the present; after all… the future was obscured and I could not be certain on what would happen in my absence.

Although at the time my anger and despair had felt that all would be solved if I had been permitted to exact revenge more deeply than merely killing the hitman; he was still not the source of the trouble.

The source of the trouble was veiled in an obscurity that Alice could not penetrate save for the single sentiment that it was a smoke screen not to be cleared by immortal hands; a smoke screen that could possibly have been cause by _immortal hands _too… but this, she had not said nor speculated on.

It was my own speculation and that of Carlisle's, but Carlisle said nothing of it in fear of enticing my already ripening bloodlust on the matter… my impulsiveness had caused him much fear ever since the incident in England.

And that fear was working at his patience right now, for I now understood that his insistence on my attendance was not merely because his evil friend willed it with no words on the fact (it was an unsaid thing, for Aro enjoyed me differently from how he enjoyed Carlisle), but that Carlisle felt the coincidence of the request in light of the antagonizing situation of Angela's father could all be connected. Although most of us relied on Alice, Carlisle relied on a God that hated him.

"Edward?" Carlisle handed me the plane tickets and I frowned at them; Jasper's thoughts a slur of how my priorities were not in order and that I was behaving childishly. Rosalie agreed with him on the matter although she did not know it as yet; her frown in place and eyes narrowed; did I think that herself, Esme and Alice were incapable of protecting Angela? Did I not see the disaster that would follow if I were to be absent from Volterra?

Aro was most fond of me; we shared a similar talent. Aro was most fond of me, I warded of his childish curiosity with my all-knowing mind; he was less prone to games with me around. What they did not know of Aro was, as much as his insanity was a nuisance (a dangerous one at times), it was what oddly held the powerful guard in check… and not Caius.

It was Caius that I feared; his ruthlessness was not insane which was in itself terrifying, and if I were absent and Caius would more likely find slight in my absence than Aro; he would be more so suspicious and take it as insolence…

What was this meeting about? My thoughts ran over each other and speculations caused me nervousness and anxiety; I did not want to leave but I feared what the result of my staying would be? I looked to Alice and she made no reaction; she had seen no future regarding such a decision on my staying on going…

Instead her only understanding of the future was its obscurity to do with Angela at the moment and as a result, my obscurity too (not to say we were not in it, just… veiled from her eyes) and the Volturi's impending involvement in our lives; something she hoped the trip would ward of, if I was in attendance.

It was done as I took the tickets, looking out the window wistfully; Jasper and I would have to go to the airport and make a show of showing how we had boarded the plane; we would be going by sea, of course... Carlisle liked his peace and was unbearable when paranoid; it was something that barely ever happened and I had witnessed it only twice, Rosalie and Esme once.

When we had encountered the wolves initially in Forks… and when he had taken me to Volterra the first time and Aro had hissed for me to be his.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

We had gone through the wine just fine enough and Leah was dancing alone in the middle of her living room, the bottle of wine in her hand and one hand raised in the air, twirling with the beat. I felt light headed and giddy, sitting on the couch and watching her… with my phone in hand.

_I have left._ Edward's message read. At the end he wrote he loved me, and I had no doubt about that but in the six words, as sparse as they were… I could feel the punch of all the things he wanted to say that he couldn't, the pleas and reprove that would spill from his eyes when he looked at me, secrets he thought he was hiding; emotions he thought I was too human to see.

_I have left_; I don't want to go, but there is something in my life that is happening that I have no control over.

_I love you_; I pray you still love me, I pray and beg you to always love me… and not fall in love with your rage so deeply and irrevocably that my being _yours_ won't matter, as you will no longer be _mine_ but belong to your _vengeance_.

I wondered how cruel I had become? I looked at the turned off television, my reflection on the concave surface; I looked like me, but there was such a frown on my face. I smoothed it, looked at my wine contemplatively-God, I was drunk-and drank.

I gulped it all down, eyes closed and I saw Edward's eyes pleading but his voice uttered coolly _"I have to go, you will be safe"_

He wasn't reassuring me because he now knew I had very little fear when it came to my safety; my sole fear was with my Aunt and brother's safety. Our concerns were not aligned although of course, he cared for my family too. If he had his way… he may have brought a dozen heads to my feet (if he was not so convinced I was a delicate doll, possibly), bleeding into the rug and he would say then, "I have freed you. Come back to me"

But Alice had let the cat out of the bag, hadn't she? My future was too dangerous for even them, the vampires and Edward had been warned to let it be. I had been warned to let it be…

"Leah?" I called her from her odd daze and she mhmm'd her acknowledgement of me in her apartment. She didn't stop dancing, the music not too loud but loud enough; Of Verona was playing, Dark in my Imagination.

She wasn't thinking about Jacob or her colleague 'friend'.

I wished I could blot it all out like her but I had been careful not to drink as she did, sipping and pouring wine in the sink when she wasn't looking; but she had been determined, and I was drunk and angry, but the anger had always been there since my father had died hadn't it.

"I think… there are vampires involved in my… past" I said slowly, trying out the words to myself. I realized that was impossible, Alice was having difficulty with my future not because of some lurking vampire past in Angelica's mysterious origins… but because I was so tied to Leah.

And Jacob was so obviously in love with Leah, that I doubted he would free himself from a hold she did not know she had on him. Jacob… was a wolf.

"No… not vampires" I said a little louder, over the music. "Something… just, something"

I got up and took the bottle from her, chugging it down. She stopped spinning, and looked at me with unfocused eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Something is involved in your future… or something is involved in your past?" she asked and I was taken aback when she wasn't slurring.

"Uh… both?" I tried and she closed her eyes and held a chin as though wisdom was coming upon her.

"We need to go to a bar" she said, startling me with that response and how serious her words came out, as though this was the answer to both our werewolf and vampire problems.

In ten minutes we had changed and Leah was searching for her car keys, with no complaints from me-it was already late, and I had a feeling my Aunt assumed I was at the Cullens and the women vampires assumed I was still at home (except Alice, who oddly trusted me with Leah).

Leah wore a flannel shirt and jeans with boots and I donned something similar except with sneakers, and we both tried makeup on but opted to just use the mascara. The anger was still in me, but it was swathed in a giddiness I remembered; I was still young, I was still alive… I needed to live.

I needed to be alive.

Xx~xx~xX

"You shouldn't do this, drunk driving I mean…" Leah held a finger in the air to illustrate the severity of her words, while her eyes were unnaturally focused ahead of her on the road. She drove carefully and slowly, the musing humming underneath the sound of the outside of the car… as not to hinder her concentration on her drunk driving.

I laughed, clutching my sides. Her cheeks were dark and hair pulled into the bun she used to wear at Forks and we were both in our spectacles after Leah had failed to locate her contacts. We were munching on crisps as our form of sustenance even though Leah had pointed out to my naïve understanding of alcohol that the crisps would not help us at all at the end of the night.

"Who cares" I told her and she agreed. Those who cared were not around… and we certainly did not have the mental and emotional capacity to care right now.

She parked the car slowly and when she had turned the ignition off, the engine shaking, she let out a breath.

"I always wanted to come here, you know" she laughed. "It was where Sam would come with his friends. Emily and I would plot about sneaking out and coming here… when she would come and visit me that is. I never had the guts… hell, we both didn't"

Leah looked out the window wistfully "Her and I were always such good girls" she touched the glass and drew a line down against its coolness "Our understanding of the world came from fairytales"

"And weren't you right about that" I laughed "princesses and werewolves?"  
"Wolves" Leah corrected.

"My understanding came from a bible…" I sighed.

"And weren't you right" she didn't laugh, turning to look at me "Angels and Demons?"

I remained silent, incapable of being affronted by her implications in the wake of my shock that she would actually imply it anyway.

"Your vampire would never leave you" she said and I made a noncommittal sound, trying not to snap at her. "If he had to… then, I fear that there must be… deadlier things out there" she was silent for a moment, taking in a breath "Angels and Demons" and then to clarify her analogy, she touched my hand and brought my attention fully to her words "Demons being… anything with red eyes"

I smiled then, a weak smile. I wanted to tell her I couldn't lose her, that I didn't want to be angry at her or have anything get between us-like her distrust of vampires.

Then I realized that Leah had carefully crafted a life were all supernatural things were at the outer rim of her environment. Her distrust was not only of Edward, but of Sam and Jacob too. Did she want normality? It did not seem like it.

She wanted to be strong.

We wanted to be strong, I guessed, in the face of the supernatural.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Please remember to drop a review; your thoughts, loves criticism.**


	5. Once Upon a Time 2

**Once Upon a Time**

**Part 2**

The bar had an orange haze of light in it that seemed to be shimmering but that might have been my tipsy eyes. It was full of people and thick with chatter, the atmosphere warm and inviting. The music wasn't too loud as I expected it to be, like a night club possibly and the people inside it were not teenagers.

Leah reached behind and took my hand, leading me through the tables and people towards the bar. The man there was in his thirties and had a thick beard and a dark look about him and he eyed me suspiciously.

"Seriously…" he drawled, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "You see the sign there?" he drifted his gaze leisurely up, at the sign hanging over the bottles of alcohol placed proudly on the shelf. It read 'no underage drinking will be promoted here'.

Leah sighed and took out her identification from her bag while I made no move. She handed it to him and he returned his eyes to me, raising an eyebrow. "We were here last week" Leah frowned at him, taking her id back. "I came with my bag and she didn't"

He was not buying it and Leah pulled a stool out for me to sit on. I sat down quietly and looked around, ignoring the bartender. "It's okay Martin" a voice chuckled from beside me and both Leah and I jumped. I looked over at the man and immediately got off of my stool and backed up into Leah.

He was dauntingly built; hair cropped so close to his scalp and eyes dark, dancing with mischief. He stuck his hand out to me, grinning impishly "Quil" he spoke.

"He is definitely underage and you let _him _have a drink?!" Leah was unimpressed with the guy-with _Quil_-and ignored him, ignored the fact that he was so obviously some kid of relation to Jacob… no, not relation… he was a wolf. I realized I may have seen him at the funeral and before then too… except, in the distance of my memories he _definitely _did not look like he did now.

"You not going to shake it?" Quil raised an eyebrow, rudely sticking his hand in my personal space. Beside him, sitting quietly but with an air of irritation… was Isabella.

"Bella?" I did not take his hand and moved past him to her. I had almost forgotten about it all; Isabella, Forks students… life with humans. She acknowledged me with a casual glance that began at my feet and ended with suspicion on my face. She feigned a smile, turned her body towards me and said "It's nice to see you out and about"

"Yes" I was taken aback by it all.

"Seriously… _Martin!_" Leah paid no attention to Isabella who she had never liked or Quil, leaning over the bar and glaring at Martin, who rested against the counter behind him with his arms folded, thoroughly entertained by Leah's anger.

"Seems every Quileute is out to get you, eh Leah?" another wolf emerged, standing right behind me. I felt surrounded and shuffled forward closer to Isabella. My immediate thought was how I would smell like wolf when I got around to checking in with Rosalie and Alice tomorrow…

Would a lengthy shower and change of clothes remove all evidence?

"You hang out with Ms Clearwater?" Isabella tried to be friendly, she had never truly gotten over _Edward_.

"Uh… yeah" I stammered. Behind us, Leah and Martin were arguing and the two wolves were enjoying Leah's discomfort while Leah tried her best to ignore them. In the end, Martin pushed a bottle to me but it wasn't because Leah had harassed him enough into doing it, or that Quil and his friend had used their wolf charms on him either; Jacob Black stood stiffly beside Leah with a strained expression on his face.

"Jake, I'm over here!" Isabella called, raising her hand so Jacob could locate her. She eventually pushed me out of the way, smiling apologetically and offered me her bar stool so she could be closer to Jacob… who had not moved from Leah's side.

He whispered something to Leah and she gripped her bottle tightly, never responding to whatever she said. He moved back, his eyes gliding right past Bella and locking with mine; they were dark and serious, the other wolves with him had sobered up at his tenseness.

He moved away from Leah, ignored Isabella's needy mewl for him and came to my side, whispering into my ear the same thing I suspected he had said to Leah, "You are on Quileute land Angela. Your vampire better not be here too. None of your vampires should dare cross the treaty to look for you"

His words were cold and threatening and I felt fear.

"Jake, come on" his one friend sighed and Jacob gave him a sharp look that silenced him. The friend shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I tried', but Jacob was not having any of that. I thought on his words and shivered; I was not sure whether or not the Cullen's had the good sense not to come looking for me here, if they did check up on me at home and found me not there.

"Angela" Jacob spoke a little more clearly and I tried to keep eye contact, feeling as though I was being reprimanded by some authority figure than little Jake "You are welcome here" he closed his eyes as though a part of him was disagreeing with that "But they aren't" he opened them, imploring me to understand that so I nodded my head vigorously, drinking the bitter beer too quick just to give myself something to do.

"You and I both know your being here isn't something _Edward_ would agree upon" Jake smiled and I smiled back manically, from the corner of my eye I could see Isabella glaring at me, and Leah who sat next to Bella had ordered herself a shot of something, still warring with Martin the bartender.

"He… isn't around" I said softly and Jacob's eyes widened at that bit of news "But I mean, he knows you wouldn't… no one would hurt me?" it came out so unsure and Jacob laughed at that, patting my back hard.

"No one is going to hurt you Angela" he smiled before giving me a small squeeze. "You and I are alike in so many ways, I wish you knew"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

We did not approach them immediately, idling into their city with cautiousness.

It was a strategic move, I supposed, for the male vampires of our coven to attend without our mates. I was wary of Chelsea, Carlisle more so and although our bond as a coven had proved difficult to manipulate… having our mates away from us would prove even more of a difficulty if it came to Chelsea attempting to sway our bonds.

If our mates were with us, Carlisle had reasoned, Chelsea would have approached the matter to each couple which would in turn give more pliability to allegiances being realigned but now, our anchors where away from us.

I had always been his biggest worry with Chelsea; as time had rolled out and my depression had intensified regarding the mundane living and repetitive immortality; I would have been interested in change.

If it were not for Angela, Emmett would be in my place right now.

"Aro is fonder of Alice than he is of me" I murmured. We moved through the nighttime city life stiffly but with a harried pace. Carlisle wanted us to stay the night in the city at a modest hotel before going to meet with Aro, the meeting itself was due the next day.

He made no comment to my words while Jasper growled low; we were nervous, our only defiance had always been Alice and her absence could ruin Carlisle's carefully thought through design to avoid Aro's childish cruelties.

The hotel was as Carlisle had been thinking of, modest and familiar; one which we had loved once before. Inside there was an old woman with dark skin and white snow hair, she pressed her thick glasses to her face when we walked towards her vintage reception desk. The wallpaper was of a paisley design with warm red and cream hues, and in one corner sat a lush wingback chair… and on it sat a Persian cat.

"My…" the woman-whom after careful inspection I recognized to be the daughter of the previous owner from last Carlisle, Esme and myself had been to Volterra. It had been that long, I realized. My heart ached seeing how humans could not free themselves from the prison of time.

I thought of Angela and with the thought a deep itch settled in my mind and heart; I wanted to call her, to hear her voice and know that she was healing. Humans may be prisoners of time but it did one thing for them that it could not do for vampires; it healed.

"Edward?" Jasper called my attention to him. We were by the desk, the old woman who I had met when she had been but a pre-teenager, clasped Carlisle's hand and murmured devotions and awes in fast Italian.

_Are you Okay? It is __**imperative**__ you be okay…_

Jasper always thought of me as too in touch with my emotions for his own liking, and the reminder that his beloved Alice was a jewel Aro and Caius coveted had turned him less tolerant with my inner deliberations. I nodded tersely, looking away from him lest I he see the scowl that would accompany the annoyance he read from me.

We all had _beloveds_, dear brother. The notion that yours was more valued than mine enraged…

"Edward, son…" Carlisle called pressing my back so I moved forward and nearer the old woman. She gasped, her eyes wide and round.

"You have decided to be done with it all and break Aro's rules?" I snapped at Carlisle, ignoring the woman's awe and marvel. "Why don't we just wait for sunshine and do a glitter jig for her?"

I had impulsively spewed the words, my insides coiling with irritation at the woman's hot hand on my own hand and my frustration and anxiety; but my tantrum, despite Carlisle's own previous apprehension, only made my father laugh.

The woman removed her hand from mine then and covered her mouth, gazing at Carlisle with pure adoration as he chuckled heavenly to her. She had somehow in her innocence uplifted his mood and strangely, Jasper's mood too.

"You remember me?" she asked, tugging my hand once more. Her accent made the words almost impossible to hear but I felt myself become ashamed at my outburst, a thousand emotions swirling inside me. Jasper of course, had learnt not to interfere with the emotions of people without their permission.

"Rosetta" I said softly, smiling a little and pleasing Carlisle when I seemed to thaw. "My little rose" I added in Italian. She managed to blush, besides the dark tan she had on her aged face and placed her hand delicately on her large bosom

I knew her, of course but seeing her once more after the multiple decades when it had been only a few months to me that I had been to Volterra before, put a spotlight on my relationship with Angela. One day, I would wake up and she would be as Rosetta… so near to death, but containing a beauty that was elusive to all vampires.

_Age_.

It saddened me.

Rosetta had been just below thirteen when I first met her, a pretty quiet girl with thick black hair and full cheeks. She had tailed me throughout the hotel when she could, spying on me whenever I went into the garden. Her infatuation had been my initial clue that I was not to interact with prepubescent humans all those seventy years ago. She had been worse than the teenage girls in high school; although her thoughts had been far less sexual; the level of worship she had been overwhelmed with had terrified me and left me feeling as though I had stolen her devotion from God.

She was in her senses now, although highly intoxicated by the three vampires she was about to invite into her hotel; she shuffled behind and took keys from hooks, handing them to Carlisle and murmuring how she never forgot us… nor did she utter a word to anyone about us.

"And I won't of course…!" she laughed "This I take to my grave!"

I shivered at her words, how much of a weight it would be in a coffin; the secrets of ancients.

Xx~xx~xX

I heard Jane's thoughts a minute before Carlisle and Jasper became conscious of her, the beauty of telepathy in the quieter location of the hotel was that a vampire's thoughts were easily discernible in the sparse jabber of human thoughts. Vampire's thoughts were layered in colors, sights and smells over the initial more 'conscious' thoughts. These layers consisted of our primal nature as vampires; such like the way a lion would move through a savannah or woodland, taking note of the scents and otherwise menial sights that humans tended to ignore.

An intricacy that required patience to learn to distinguish between what was conscious and primal, for new borns tended to be enraptured by _both_.

Jane's knowledge that we had arrived in Volterra fuelled my discomfort and with it, Jasper's gaze hardened as he sensed my further agitation. It meant that the Volturi guards were on a tight watch, and it gave a clue to the graveness of the counsel topic.

Even with the airplane bookings we had made although coming through the sea, they had caught us out.

"Jane approaches" I informed Jasper when he was about to scold me once again on my nerves. Carlisle rose from the couch fluidly and faced the door calmly, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that Jane had ruined his night to compose his thoughts. Jasper and I positioned ourselves at either side of him and waited.

Thoughts were louder and carried a much greater distant than scent, and in the quiet of the side of town we were in, we were not about to be surprised.

Jane seemed annoyed, unintentionally musing on her own petty discomforts instead of giving me insight on Aro's dealings. I grated my teeth when she entered the hotel.

The members of the Volturi sustained themselves on human blood, but further than just that their respect for the life they extinguished with each gulp was nonexistent. Jane's indifference to humans was far better than that of the elder vampires in the royal entourage, but her nature to _torture_ made her have her own nasty streak regarding mortals.

She was physically in her adolescence and her mind retained the blueprint of that age such as I had seen in Rosetta-that impressionableness, that terrifying commitment and fixation, but all of this was coated by an ancient experience and understanding which was further suffocated by her vampirism.

She could not hide from me that one thing, as she could not hide it from Aro and I had seen it drift just like the nuances of primal instinct that layered our minds; it would drift unnoticed to her over her conscious and it tasted like regret and yearning…

And she was unaware of it, or possibly she had deluded herself that it was not part of her resentment towards humans and female vampires. Jane, you see, had the conscious of a vampire woman trapped in the never aging body of a young _sweet_ girl. She had had to suppress so much of her vivaciousness for fear of its strangeness being represented by her young body and to the eyes that saw her body as a child; for as terrifying as her gift was; she reveled in the terror other vampires had of her…

She did not want to be seen as _strange _and abnormal, by other vampires who were strange. Her regret was that Aro had not given her a few more years…

Jane stopped by the reception and smiled sweetly at Rosetta, ever so tempted to torture the lovely aged woman if only to feed her displeasure that Carlisle Cullen was, as per usual, behaving eccentrically and had decided to enter the city and not report to their castle. And as per usual, Aro had found that amusing as he always did with Carlisle, and sent her-a prestigious guard, to welcome him.

She did not harm Rosetta, as was customary, the human's in Volterra were probably the safest regarding vampire attacks. Jane ignored Rosetta's fear of her that had rendered her speechless as she stared at the pale young girl draped in a dark robe with pale blonde hair tied in a red ribbon. Jane looked intentionally up as though she could see through the ceiling.

"Room 62" Rosetta finally managed and I saw through Rosetta's eyes how dark Jane's eyes were, although the crimson swam in there. Rosetta was wisely afraid and she carefully watched as Jane walked into the elevator and just as the doors began to close, a terror went down Rosetta's spine when the angelic girl smiled at her.

Rosetta abandoned the reception desk, deciding to wake her son to take over from her. She had had enough strangeness for one night but she would, as her father before her had done, keep the strangeness to herself.

Xx~xx~xX

"No Rosalie?" was Jane's greeting to us as her eyes scanned the room as though the rest of our coven would be cowering in dark corners, afraid of her. Jane had not met Rosalie but had heard of her beauty from Felix and Alec.

It frustrated me when I realized she was not certain on what the dealing in the Castle where about; it seemed she too had only arrived in Volterra today-in the morning to be exact, after being called back from an excursion she had gone to in England. She seldom got time away from Volterra in the past decades, and although she was of course under the influence of Chelsea's gift of loyalty… that one thing she denied in her, that craving she had needed to be fixed. Aro, new of the nature of her craving even if she denied it to herself; it was a delicate balance for Aro, I imagined… keeping the key components of his guard satisfied.

"Aro's invitation was… not straight forward" Carlisle said.

"The secretary wrote it" Jane looked away from Carlisle "It was of an urgency, if you can understand and the human was left to her own creativity with relaying _that_ urgency" she was unaffected truthfully by the secretary or her death that had resulted from her botching up numerous invitations.

"I myself have just arrived" Jane sighed. She moved to the window and peeked the curtain open, frowning at the outside. "Many were called in, you see… those that Master trusted and that Lord Caius thought useful"

"For what?" Carlisle asked.

"We shall find out tomorrow" Jane was uninterested in all of it, she had lived through many of the Volturi's endeavors. "Our Lords will decide tomorrow on whom will be privy to the matter, and whom should help with it. Of course…" she pointed lazily at Carlisle, rolling her eyes "You will be included. You are his _favorite_ coven head"

"You were sent here to let Carlisle know he is Aro's favorite…?" I failed to hide my amusement at the fact and Jane failed to reign in her annoyance for my amusement, and although Jasper was quick to somber her anger… I still felt the odd headache in my mind and slammed my hand up to my temple painfully.

"Boy!" Jane warned and I bit back the 'Little _Girl_' I wanted to throw at her.

"Apologies" I said instead.

"You will be before our Lords first light" Jane said.

She left then, pulling the curtain back and jumping nimbly down. She hurried through the street, cursing me all the while.

"You just couldn't help it, could you?" Jasper punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"How is your mind?" Carlisle sighed.

"That girl always gives me a headache!" I chuckled, somehow pleased with Jane's news that did not seem to involve _humans _and vampire secrecy. "But I think I will survive"

Xx~xx~xX

Before the sun had risen, as the rays peeked up over the edge of the earth, we made our way to the castle.

"Father, I appreciate your wisdom" I told Carlisle. He smiled, although he was not sure on what matter his wisdom had been appreciated and the time to discuss it died with each of our steps.

Through the whole matter, Carlisle had more to lose; I had mostly been concerned with Angela, and in the face of Carlisle's ability to tie in his love for Esme and that of his children and to somehow include the very safety of the Quileute against Aro and Caius cruel tyranny with any other supernatural species…

I was ashamed by how all-consuming my love for Angela was, and although in many a romance novel an all-consuming love like that was revered; in the reality of our world, I was selfish. I had always known this, of course… but never had I truly been as ashamed as I was now. Would I throw it all to the wind to save just Angela?

I would…? Could I? Would she let me?

I was _insane_, I was convinced; a type of psychosis had formed in me after being alone for so long, after having never loved and spending decades looking down upon the emotion.

We entered the grand hall reserved for such meetings and as Carlisle had once informed me, reserved for executions.

Marcus sat alone on the trio-throne, eyes moving over all who stood before him with dissatisfaction. He was waiting for Aro, who had gone to consult with Chelsea on _invitations_ to the Guard before they addressed the task they would instruct Carlisle to assist with…

There was a South American vampire named Huilen who had come to plead with the Volturi for assistance… after her nephew had been kidnapped… by humans.

"Carlisle…" I touched Carlisle's hand but in the present situation, although all vampires were loosely spread out before the thrones and the spacing would have been adequate for me to whisper the information into my father's ear…

Had we been in a gathering of humans. I was not sure how the _Lords _would take my breaking the news on the important meeting before they could, and opted to remain silent instead. Carlisle eyed me patiently, but realized that whatever I was about to say… I had decided should be censored and he inquired no more on the matter.

In that moment, Caius and Aro appeared and sat down. Behind us all, the doors opened and Felix and Demetri entered on either side of the vampire Huilen, with little Jane and Alec in tow.

"Carlisle!" Aro clapped his hands in childlike glee, his red eyes twinkling with mischief "I am glad you are here, old friend! You could have come to us last night… we had a _feast_!"

As he said this, Jane and Alec positioned themselves on either side of the royal trio, their eyes sparkling claret orbs. The woman-the vampire-Huilen was a 'guest' of Volterra, and not in the good sense. Aro and Caius were undecided on what it was they would do to her, as her claims and memories showed something impossible.

"This is Huilen, and as you can clearly see by her dressing…" Aro smiled wickedly at this "She lives in _forgotten_ Amazonia"

Caius chuckled at Aro's little quip while Marcus remained impassive.

"I thought there would be more… covens?" Carlisle asked and Aro clapped his hands once more, rising this time as he made his way forward. My fear intensified and in the moment, I was uncertain on my sanity once more; that all-consuming love threated to unravel in me; would I attack him to keep him from touching Carlisle's hand?

He only walked half way to Carlisle, shaking his head so his dark hair moved about his deep white face.

"If you had come last night instead of sulking in that unfashionable hotel…"Aro tutted "You would have met them all. I have retired them for today, so I could deal with you. I have a very sensitive request of you, dear Carlisle…"

Aro's eyes swiveled to me and my dread picked up a tempo.

"I am glad you have brought Jasper and dear Edward with you" Aro smiled knowingly, his thoughts betraying him; he would ask us both if we would like a place in the Guard. Jasper may be convinced by the prospect of human blood, if Aro promised him he could persuade Alice and I… well, he knew I had been lonely and dissatisfied and in our last meeting Chelsea had promised Aro that over time… I could be swayed.

It was time, in Aro's eyes but he did not know about Angela.

Behind it all, he was hiding something but that thing was soon revealed by Huilen, whose mind was in turmoil over her nephew…

A vampire, I almost thought through her eyes. But then, he wasn't….

I gasped, and Aro knew I had found it out.

"Where is Emmett?" Aro asked and Carlisle tensed. Emmett was in England, awaiting our call to indicate it was safe, and had gone well. "Oh, never mind then!" Aro was too enraptured in what he had just uncovered to care for our strangeness, or to care on our _memories…_

What could we possibly offer him, in that moment, that could compare to _hybrid._

"Huilen's nephew…" I began to tell Carlisle but Aro glared at me and I silenced.

"She _claims_ her nephew is the product of a vampire and a human" Aro said, almost apologetically as though Huilen may have lost her mind with such a claim. She might as well have, for what she said and what she thought, and what her mind showed was impossible?!

Chelsea sauntered in from the throne room and waved at Carlisle, who acknowledged her with a terse nod.

"Do you not wish to join our Guard in finding the truth of her words?" Aro continued on his defamation of Huilen, but in it he hid a deeper more serious matter. Human's had captured and imprisoned a vampire-albeit a _half_ vampire if what Huilen thought of her nephew was… true…

But it was…

Aro did not want to say it out loud, to have it in the air; the war that would ensue would undo everything he and Caius had strived for in their new civilized world; we would be told of the humans after the other guard members dispersed.

"We will assist your Guard" Carlisle answered carefully, maintaining respect before Aro and an ever cynical Caius. "But no, none of us will _join _them"

In his mind, although outwardly he showed composure, Carlisle had a thousand questions and exclamations on what he had just heard; it was all too delicate, and he trusted I had heard enough from the trio's mind to adequately answer some of his inquiries later on.

"Will they not join us, Chelsea?" Aro turned around to ask as though Chelsea had the final say on the matter.

"Sadly… they will not" she sighed "Edward is most obstinate this decade…"

She smiled though; of the other vampire coven, she had managed to claim two members. One of whom had the ability to shield himself from all five senses.

"Jane and Felix will assist you" Caius spoke. The task at hand, although handed casually was of the highest importance; a blood bath of the humans guilty was unwanted, and vampires with control over their thirst and a better understanding of humanity were required.

Most important of all, and Aro sent the message to me through his thoughts, the hybrid was to be brought very much alive to him. I gave Huilen a glance; did she know what they planned of her?

Xx~xx~xX

X

x

**Authors Note;**

**Remember to review! It really is great to know your thoughts likes dislikes, and motivates me! It also helps guide the story!**

**Xx**

**KKR**


	6. The Rabbit Hole 1

**THE RABBIT HOLE 1**

**X**

**X**

**ANGELA WEBER**

"…so you know…" Isabella went on but a fit of hiccups took her over, and she never did finish telling me why she had chosen 'green' as the color for her dress for the spring dance. Quil was eager to help her, as he had been doing _throughout_ the night, and although my mind was clouding pretty fast from all the drinking…

I could swear he looked like a big bad wolf, assisting Isabella to yet another cup of alcohol. I turned away from them and searched for Leah; the place was now packed, the music had grown louder and the haze thicker-I couldn't spot her in the crowd.

"Quil?" I touched his hot arm but he shrugged my hand off annoyed, enwrapped in his own world with Isabella Swan. "I'll find her myself!" I growled and hobbled off my bar stool, taking my beer but no one cared for my tantrum, and no one followed after me as I got lost in the crowd. I tried to weave my way through bodies, my concentration spent on keeping my balance leveled; my beer was bumped a few times, the liquid sloshing up and over my front.

In the end, I was swallowed by the crowd and lost in its center with a wall of dancing people.

"Leah!" I called but the music drowned my voice; the people, the sound… everything. "Leah?" I was crying and for a moment, I didn't know why and then my drunken mind tried to make logic of the tears; _your father, your mother, your vampire boyfriend, your brothers… your life…_

_Just end it now_, the thought was so powerful it shocked me. I gulped the sob down, took a deep swig of my drink and looked up; through the swaying bodies stood the palest beauty with a wild fiery mane, eyes so blatantly red.

"_You_" I didn't stutter, there was for a moment no fear in me but then she smiled, and I remembered my desperation for it to all just _end_…

I turned around quickly and shoved my way forward; I had to get away from her but where would I go? What could I do? It might just end in this moment, all of it…

Such a distant past the red haired vampire had come from, and yet here she was… cruel smile, cruel eyes…

"Leah!" I called "Leah… Leah….!" It was a desperate chant. I knew she couldn't save me and yet I thought if we were together… how would that be different?

"LEAH!"

The bottle was knocked out of my hand by a fellow drunk girl, it fell to the floor and I stepped over it after being shoved by some other random person. The bottle rolled under my foot and I fell backwards, this time it was Edward's name I was calling before my head hit the floor, and the lights in my mind went out.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Leah stared at her reflection in the restroom mirror and frowned. She was very drunk, she had gotten Angela very drunk too… and although she was mildly concerned about Isabella being there… where _she_ was _drunk_; she realized her biggest concern were the Quileute boys who _weren't _getting drunk and _were _actually her _students!_

"Technically…!" she raised her index finger sharply in the air "They shouldn't even be here, drinking… underage drinking…" she got distracted from her ranting and began fumbling with her bag, looking for her lipstick "Jacob _is_ underage" she muttered, squinting at her reflection and twisting her lipstick up.

She didn't apply it to her mouth, and resumed staring at herself for a moment. Why did she need to put on any lipstick at all? She should just get Angela, get in her car and take them home…

The door opened slowly and as she was packing her lipstick away, reading herself to march across the packed bar and hightail it away from any wolves; Gareth entered. She froze, the lipstick falling to the ground.

"Killian" she breathed.

He said nothing for a moment, shutting the door behind him and leaving her with an ominous feeling; would he lock it? A strange thought to have but she had it nonetheless and when he _did _lock the door, she backed up a few steps. She regretted being elated when she had entered the restroom and found it unoccupied besides the bar being as full as it was; '_Just my luck!' _she had grinned.

But why should she be as paranoid as she was, it was Killian… lovely Gareth Killian, locking the restroom door, here at a bar where she hadn't told him she was going to.

She looked about them, put on a smile and breathed "Fancy meeting you here?" she met his eyes and smiled widely, her hand finding no purchase on the sink when she tried to steady her drunk self.

"Girls night out?" he smiled back but his smile was all wrong or was it her? Was it because of Jacob? Was it that she was drunk?

"Guys night out?" she asked innocently but her eyes flicked to the door he had just locked. He looked back at it too, and sighed deeply.

"Something like it" he didn't smile, instead he stood between her and her planned exit from the bar.

"You just… decided to come out tonight?" she moved forward, bravely but when she made to pass him he grabbed her arm hard. "Why don't we talk outside?" she squeaked, her smile trembled this time and her eyes met a hard gaze.

"It's loud outside" he released her hand but repositioned himself fully in front of the door. "I had been waiting for you to come out you see, and you know…" he frowned hard for a moment, shaking his head and she saw that his ears had gone red "_he _was waiting for you too!"

She was too close to him and for a moment, she thought the intense alcohol vapors were coming from herself but then, he looked at her and his eyes were red and unfocused and his face unkind.

She was scared.

"I love you" he told her, reaching for her arm once more but she skipped back. "How can you… how can you do this to me?"

"When _exactly_ did you have the time to _fall in love with me?!_" she hissed. "And what did is it that you think I did to you?"  
"Make me a fool?" he didn't raise his voice but this scared her just as much as the odd pulsing going on with his eyes. "Take me for a fool"

"You are doing that all on your…" she didn't finish, he had leapt forward and she thought he would hit her, but instead he growled at her "Here you are, fucking students? I don't think that will sit well with the board, lovely Ms. Clearwater"

"Eh?" she blinked.

"You and Billy Black's _son_…" he shoved her hard where he had failed to say Jacob's name and she toppled over, her bottom hitting the floor hard. He was looming over her and he had his fist raised, but the restroom door swung open with a loud crash, and Killian Gareth jumped, and when he turned around to face Jacob Black, his head connected with a Quileute Wolf fist and he was sent flying across, landing right beside Leah in an unconscious slump.

"…" she stared from Killian to Jacob in confusion, and then opted to remain silent.

Jacob was tensed, his frame shaking and quivering and eyes glowing… they were glowing amber.

"I can hear Angela looking for you" Jacob breathed hard.

"Huh?"

"Angela is…" Jacob was yelling at her but then he quieted and turned his head sharply to the broken door, then he gave Leah one semi-concerned and mostly enraged look before leaving her in the restroom. It was strange to think that the bar was still very much alive, the music pumping… when Killian was unconscious next to her on the restroom floor.

She got up shakily, grabbed her handbag to her and kicked Killian's leg fiercely.

"Fool" she spat.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Quil had never understood why the rest of his brothers-Embry to be precise-hated being wolves.

"…and if you come with me to the dance…" Isabella went on, drawing wobbly circles with her finger on the table "We would be the hottest couple there!" she squealed.

"What about Angela and her…" he was about to say vampire but swallowed the word down with his drink, placing it back on the table carefully.

"Her boyfriend?" Isabella blinked innocently "Edward?" she reached for his drink but before she could get to it, Martin lifted it up and surveyed it in the light.

"You are drinking this like its ice tea, Quil" he muttered.

"And I am getting drunk like it is tea" Quil rolled his eyes "Anyway…"

"Quil, get me another drink!" Isabella pouted and when Quil began to cave under Martin's gaze to _not _get her another drink, she pulled his hand and placed it on her thigh "Please?"

"Get the lady a drink, Martin" Quil grinned goofily at Isabella.

"Quil?" Embry pulled Quil's attention.

"What!?" Quil slammed his hand on the countertop.

"Where are Angela and Leah?" Embry breathed. "Do you smell that?"

"What am I supposed to smell in this cigarette and sweat hole" Quil rolled his eyes "Can you not be a buzz kill… can you for once, in your life…"  
"There is a leech here!" Embry growled, grabbing a fist full of Quil's shirt and pulled him forward roughly. "Stop sniffing her pheromones and you'll smell it too!" he released him then, and charged off… disappearing through the people.

"Hmm" Isabella giggled. "You should probably take me home"

He looked from Isabella to the space in which Embry had stood and back at her once more and before he could decide, Embry re-emerged. Quil could tell immediately that something had happened and when he saw Jacob leading Leah and Angela towards them, he hopped up off of his seat.

"We don't need you to do anything…!" Leah was ranting and Angela was slurring, Jacob was terrifying and Isabella… well, she had retracted her invitation and murmured that Jacob was a better candidate to take her home.

"You need me!" Jacob roared, his eyes wild and scowl vicious "That jerk was going to do whatever the fuck he wanted with you!"

"But he didn't"

"Because of _me_, you idiot!" Jacob didn't stop Leah from leaning across the counter and calling Martin for a drink. "A shot" she told Martin, who raised an eyebrow for approval from Jacob. "The fucking shot is for _me!_ Why would you need Jacob's _consent_ for my fucking shot? You have been serving underage boys…"

"Boys?" Jacob spat. "Fuck! I can't deal with this!"  
"Err, Jake…" Quil breathed "About the leech smell Embry imagined…?"

"I didn't imagine anything…" Embry said stoically.

"This one…" Jacob laughed meanly "Went and got her leech to break the treaty"

Leah paused her rebellion, looking back at a very drunk Angela who had hooked her arm over Isabella's neck and was threatening to topple both her and Isabella if she finally knocked out.

"No, he wouldn't… he couldn't …" Leah breathed "He isn't around… the other two know she is with me"

"I heard her call him… I smelt leech too" Jacob said cruelly.

"You imagined…"  
"She was calling you and then him, and there she was passed out on the floor…"

"If it was a Cullen, do you really think they would leave her on the floor?" Leah challenged, ignoring Isabella's wild concentration at the mention of 'Cullen'.

"It was them" Embry said ominously.

"Regardless…" Leah took her shot swiftly and unhooked Angela's arm from around Isabella's neck _"We_ are going home"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**LEAH CLEARWATER**

My friendship with Angela had led me to a cliff edge, with nothing but murky darkness below, and a past edging me forward; jump, escape and live… _die_. I closed my eyes and lights popped, the thoughts whispering behind the loud disjointed images of drunkenness. We were both on the edge weren't we?

Angela was out cold, swathed in a thick dirty blanket that had been in the back of my car. The wind swept over the stretch of road, the shadows of the trees swaying. I was alert but the drunkenness had not left me, and occasionally I felt myself sway a little.

It was a strange sight, nightmarish; giant shapes moving in the darkness, occasionally those shapes moved through the patch of light my car's headlights gave; at times the moon was enough but they were so far off… the _wolves_. I looked behind us; the car shook lightly, its slow droning somewhat comforting.

But the comfort wasn't enough, was it? The things of our past kept threatening to push us right over the edge.

"Leah?" the blonde… the _Rosalie_, spoke. Her hair was like white gold in the light, her face porcelain; terrible beauty, just like the vampire lying in several twitching pieces between us and the bristling shadows of the wolves up ahead.

Alice was arguing with Jacob viciously between all of that, pointing at me; at Angela. I was irrelevant in the vampire's world, I knew that; nothing but a distraction to the obsessive _love_ their _brother _had for Angela. I was unbothered by their mutual dislike for each other-the wolves and the vampires; the only thing that concerned me was Angela and I's own ambitions and direction; could we lie to ourselves that we could ever turn back from this life?

Alice could see the future but she hadn't seen this coming had she? Was I to be blame? Was it Jacob's fault? But then again, who cares whose _fucking _fault it was because I knew in her moment of failure someone had to take that blame and that was okay; we all just need someone to blame occasionally.

"Should we tell Edward?" Rosalie spoke so softly, clearly and I thought she was talking to me for Alice Cullen was impossibly far from us.

"No" I stammered, unsure and she smiled patiently as though I were the most adorable simpleton she had ever met. I was _adorable_, for up ahead, Alice was facing us, her lips moving fast. Jacob had crossed his hands over his chest and looked as though he were in a sulk… he would have loved to be in wolf form , I guessed.

He was about to turn his head to look at me and I looked back at Rosalie, playing with my hair.

"You were talking to Alice" my teeth chattered.

"Here" she began shrugging of her jersey but Jacob was moving so fast towards us, his sulk deeper than ever. Alice, had appeared in the car, the door which was crusty and always squelched when I opened it… hadn't made a sound.

"No!" Jacob half snarled. He seemed more wary of Rosalie than Alice, keeping his cheek in check.

"You can't exactly give her back her jacket?" Rosalie seemed amused. Jacob, was unperturbed at that having more important things to concern himself with (the twitching vampire limbs) than three quarters of his perfect human body prancing in the cold air; he had my jacket tied at its arms around his waist like a sarong.

"I can't exactly have her smelling like _you_" he growled. "Don't take it…" he began but when our eyes met, he couldn't speak and I suddenly found the night sky more hypnotic than it ever had been. He said "Don't take her jacket…" again, backing away. He melded with the darkness, a black-russet shimmer fused through it and in a second he trotted back, my jacket in his mouth.

I suddenly found nerve to look at him, and took the jacket from his muzzle, snarling "You really should get you some Hulk pants, you know…"

He nudged my stomach with his nose, and bent his front paw, leaning forward.

"He wants you to get on his back" Rosalie translated when I made no move and said nothing about the strange procedure. "Get on his back" she rolled her eyes and opened the driver's door to my car.

"We'll take your car to Angela's" she said but I was too stunned at everything to make any comment; I was outraged but scared of both vampires in my car.

"It's much safer for you to stay at Jacob's place, Leah" Alice piped up, repositioning a snoring Angela "And it is much safer for Rosalie and I to have a sleepover at Angela's house"

Xx~xx~xX

I stumbled off of Jacob's back and onto the ground, tripping and landing on all fours. I heard the tell-tale shimmer of him turning back into human form and my insides heated up when I realized he had done so quickly after I had fallen; ignoring the fact that he would not be clothed.

The ground was wet and cold under my hands, the smell so natural and earthy. I made no move to get up, my head dizzy. His hands were on my sides, I could tell he was slightly crouched over me "Are you okay?" he breathed. "Do you need to puke?"

I didn't need to puke. I didn't need his help ( I shoved his hands off of me and scrambled to my feet).

"Please mind" I didn't turn around to face him "Refrain from doing that when you are not clothed"

"Helping you?" he growled.

"Coming near me!" I snapped, stomping through the woods towards his house, not before chucking my jacket at him. This time, he led me to the front door where he tried the handle, before sighing and adjusting my jacket around his waist.

"You know, he has gotten a bit more paranoid…" Jake rolled his eyes, knocking on the door awkwardly.

"Can't understand why" I stammered, cold. "Not like… there are… v-v-"

I didn't finish but when I looked up at him, he was smiling a little and I hated how that made me feel because that feeling always came with a tidal wave of guilt. I closed my eyes and saw Killian's hurt and angry gaze, saw the violence in him.

The door opened and for a moment, I thought it had opened on its own. My gaze adjusted to the warm light of Billy Black's home, before falling to meet Billy's face. He looked up at me in shock, at my attire and then at Jacob's lack thereof attire.

"Sam hasn't gotten around to calling you yet?" Jacob pushed forward, Billy wheeling backwards. He had not said hello yet, his eyes darting from me to Jake.

Jake thought nothing of this and ignored his father's not so subtle gestures of confusion at my presence.

"He wanted her to stay at his place" Jacob pointed a thumb back at me before he skipped over a couch casually and with shocking agility and disappeared down the corridor into his room.

"What?" Billy called after him but in three seconds, Jake returned clad in sweatpants and head hidden in a t-shirt he was putting on over his head.

"There was a vampire" Jacob explained, plomping onto the couch and grabbing the remote "We were out, at the bar and there was a vampire. She…" he pointed the remote accusingly at me "Had brought Angela with her"

"Ah!" Billy was about to yell at me when Jacob began to chuckle.

"The vampire wasn't a Cullen unfortunately" Jake sighed "I thought it was for a moment, would have loved to reduce their numbers"

I shivered at how offhand he said that, it could easily have been mistaken for a joke but then I remembered the moment I had thought I would die in the car; the red-head slamming into the side of the car, wheels screeching and the russet mass she had then been captured by.

The red wolf's teeth and the screeching sound of her flesh being torn.

The way his eyes had glowed when he had broken into the restroom; that was violence, that was anger… Killian wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Dumb vampire… prancing on the Reservation" Jake flipped the channels too fast. "Killed it"

"And what of Sam?" I asked, intrigued by Sam's absence and simultaneous presence at the scene.

"Sam and Paul chased another vampire out, up to the Cullen territory" Jake said indifferently. "The only reason we caught the red-head was because we didn't plan to" he explained this much with a semblance of emotion to the fact, placing the remote beside him "The Cullen vampires saw something, and well… after you stormed out I had the good sense to tail you with Embry. At the other side of the woods. It just worked out that way, she didn't sense us as a result because the Cullen females were just lurking in the woods on the other side… trying not to break the treaty and whatnot"

Both Billy and I remained silent.

"Sam thought it would be best for you to stay at his place" Jake looked at me "I may have presumed too much, bringing you here? Do you want to go to him… and Emily"

"I hope you got extra blankets by now" I huffed, sitting beside him on the couch.

"Nope" he chuckled, turning his head to make sure Billy was heading back to bed after being overwhelmed with the night's news. "It's me or the cold"


End file.
